Dr. Anthony Fauci recommended Tuesday Americans not to go out to eat or go to a theater, even after getting the coronavirus vaccine.
“There are things, even if you’re vaccinated, that you’re not going to be able to do in society: for example, indoor dining, theaters, places where people congregate,” he said. “That’s because of the safety of society.”
Fauci said he wanted Americans to continue restricting their public activities due to high levels of coronavirus in the country.
He said even vaccinated people could “conceivably be infected” by the virus and have it in their nasopharynx, which is why he recommended that vaccinated Americans continue to wear masks.
“[W]e hope that when the data comes in, it’s going to show that the virus level is quite low and you’re not transmitting it, we don’t know that now,” he said.
Farci responded to a question from Chris Megerian at the Los Angeles Times during a press briefing. Megerian expressed concern the public messaging was underselling the vaccine, making Americans less enthusiastic about getting it.
CDC director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said some guidance for individual behavior would change but the community restrictions would remain.
Acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt said Americans should be interested in taking the vaccine because “they want to live.”
“They don’t want to be sick and they don’t want to die,” he said. “And that is a very important benefit that people don’t often talk about quite as much but that the public, we believe, clearly understands.”
He said the Biden administration would continue to study the data and loosen restrictions only after it was safe.
“The scientific team is going to continue to study based upon prevalence, based upon vaccination levels, and based upon the data, and we’ll come out with more,” he said.