Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser on the novel coronavirus, recently updated the timeline on when we might see the end of the coronavirus pandemic, and we may know more soon.
When will we return to normal?
- The turning point of the pandemic might happen “within a few weeks,” Fauci said during a virtual event from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, according to CNBC.
- With the current pace of vaccinations, “literally within a few weeks, we’re going to start to see a turning around of the dynamics,” Fauci said, according to CNBC.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the exact end of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s unlikely that the United States will reach herd immunity — the magic number where enough people are immune and vaccinated to COVID-19 in order to stop its spread. But, according to Fauci, life will begin to change soon.
Does this mean no more COVID-19?
- “Not down to no infections,” he said, according to CNBC. “If you’re waiting for classic measles-like herd immunity, that’s going to be a while before we get there. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a significant diminution in the number of infections per day and a significant diminution in all of the parameters, namely hospitalizations and deaths.”
What can you do after vaccination?
The CDC announced new guidelines for face mask use for vaccinated people, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.
- The new CDC guidelines said that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not have to wear face masks outside.