Fauci made the “pain and suffering” statement after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came out last week, telling the American people, including vaccinated individuals, that they should mask-up.
“Are we headed towards a period once again where we’re going to see lockdowns, businesses shutting down, masks routine for everybody, or is this potentially just a temporary setback?” asked ABC News correspondent Jon Karl to Fauci on Sunday.
“Jon, I don’t think we’re going to see lockdowns,” Fauci said. “I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country — not enough to crush the outbreak — but I believe enough to allow us to not get into the situation we were in last winter. But things are going to get worse. If you look at the acceleration of the number of cases, the seven-day average has gone up substantially.”
“We’re looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we’re seeing the cases go up, which is the reason why we keep saying over and over again, the solution to this is get vaccinated and this would not be happening,” Fauci said.
Fauci added, “we are seeing an outbreak of the unvaccinated.”
Nearly 58% of all Americans, including children, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the CDC and the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) have said that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 don’t need a booster shot.
“People who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe disease and death, including from the variants currently circulating in the country such as Delta,” the FDA and CDC said in early July.
“Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time. FDA, CDC, and [the National Institutes of Health] are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary,” they continued. “We continue to review any new data as it becomes available and will keep the public informed. We are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed.”
