Fauci: Masks Start Coming Off When ‘the Level of Virus Is So Low, It’s Not a Threat at All’

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” it was possible the level of coronavirus infections is “so low” by late fall, Americans could stop being advised to wear face coverings.

Baier asked, “Is there going to be a time when we are going to have no masks?”

Fauci said, “That will really be dependent upon how we get the level of the virus in the community down. If we can get — and I have used this as an estimate, it is not definitive — if we can get 70 to 85 percent of the population vaccinated and get to what we would hope would be to a degree of herd immunity, which really is an umbrella or a veil of protection against the community. Where the level of virus is so low, it’s not a threat at all. Then at that point, you can start thinking in terms of not having to have a uniform wearing of masks.”

He added, “But we’re certainly not near there yet. When do I think that would occur? It’s very difficult to predict, Bret, but if everything falls into the right place and we get this under control, it is conceivable that you might be able to pull back a bit on some of the public health measures as we get into the late fall of this year. But there’s no guarantee of that.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.