Dr. Anthony Fauci recently revealed in an interview with Yahoo Sports that unrestricted capacities at sports stadiums will be “the last thing” you will see as the United States looks to end the coronavirus pandemic.
What’s going on?
Fauci said in the new interview he doesn’t expect full capacity to be available by summer. He said it’s unlikely there will be a full stadium of fans in an NBA arena by the time the NBA Finals roll around.
- “I think that’ll be cutting it close,” he said.
So what about full NFL stadiums next fall?
- “Oh, that’s possible. I think that’s possible,” Fauci said.
Fauci said in the interview that filling up stadiums will be based on a number of factors, including how many people take the COVID-19 vaccine.
- “We’re gonna be vaccinating the highest-priority people (from) the end of December through January, February, March,” Fauci said. “By the time you get to the general public, the people who’ll be going to the basketball games, who don’t have any underlying conditions, that’s gonna be starting the end of April, May, June. So it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable (with full sports stadiums) — if a lot of people get vaccinated. I don’t think we’re going to be that normal in July. I think it probably would be by the end of the summer.”
Joining the solution
Fauci said in an interview with Mark Zuckerberg that all Americans should get the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available in order to help stop the massive spread of the virus, CNN reports.
- “Say, ‘I’m not going to be one of the people that’s going to be a steppingstone for the virus to go to somebody else. I’m going to be a dead end to the virus,’” he said.