Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday agreed with President Biden’s prediction that it will be a winter of “severe illness and death” for unvaccinated Americans, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that “the president is correct.”
Last week, Biden issued a dire warning for unvaccinated Americans, stating that they are “looking at a winter of severe illness and death, if you’re unvaccinated.”
“For themselves, their family, and the hospital they’ll soon overwhelm,” Biden said on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Covid-19 response and the vaccination program at the White House (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images).
Tapper asked Fauci about Biden’s prediction, adding, “Michael Osterholm says a viral blizzard is coming.”
“Where is the pandemic headed right now? Do you expect new record high numbers for cases? And what about hospitalizations and deaths?” Tapper asked.
“Yes, well, unfortunately, Jake, I think that that is going to happen,” Fauci responded, predicting that there will be “significant stress in some regions of the country on the hospital system, particularly in those areas where you have a low level of vaccination, which is one of the reasons why we continue to stress the importance of getting those unvaccinated people vaccinated.”
“This virus is extraordinary,” he continued, speaking of the omicron variant.
“And if you look at what it’s done in South Africa, what it’s doing in the U.K., and what it’s starting to do right now, the president is correct,” he said.
An elderly woman reacts as a health worker collects a sample for coronavirus testing in Katlehong, south of Johannesburg, South Africa (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe).
“I mean, I was with him when he said that. And I spoke to him about that, that we are going to be in for some serious difficulties right now. And we better be doing more to mitigate against that,” Fauci continued, pushing vaccinations and boosters and urging people to be “prudent in everything else you do.” That includes universal masking, despite the fact that vaccinations were originally pitched as a way to return to a state of pre-pandemic, maskless normalcy.
“When you travel in your indoor settings that are congregate, wear a mask. It is going to be tough. We can’t walk away from that, Jake. We can’t because with omicron that we’re dealing with, it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter,” he added.
This month, Fauci struck a different tone, telling the AFP that omicron “almost certainly is not more severe than delta.”
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