White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about the potential for the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions in the United States.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘lockdowns.’ That has a charged element to it. But, I believe that we must keep our eye on the pattern of what we’re seeing with infections,” he told the outlet.
Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from the virus have dropped significantly in the United States since the winter’s COVID-19 surge.
“Having said that, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we would have another variant that would come along,” Fauci said. “And then, if things change and we do get a variant that does give us an uptick in cases and hospitalization, we should be prepared and flexible enough to pivot toward going back–at least temporarily–to a more rigid type of restrictions, such as requiring masks indoor.”
But several days ago, Fauci told another news outlet that he does not expect another significant COVID-19 surge.
In recent months, a number of Democrat-led states and cities have moved to rescind COVID-19-related rules, including vaccine passports and masking. However, masking is still mandatory inside airports and on airplanes.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday moved to issue an emergency use authorization for a second booster of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for individuals aged 50 and older. The CDC said it agreed with the FDA’s decision.
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