Dr. Anthony Fauci now says “common sense” that is not “backed by data” can be an appropriate litmus test for COVID-19 vaccinated groups of people who aren’t afraid of “low” risk gatherings.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert made the comment Thursday evening while talking about the global pandemic with CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
“People are getting transactional,” Mr. Cuomo said. “Will you guys keep records of who has it? Will that allow me to travel more, go to restaurants more, go to games more? And will I be able to get that benefit from being vaccinated?”
Dr. Fauci, who has helped shape both former President Trump’s and now President Biden’s White House coronavirus response, said “really serious discussions” on the issue are going on at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What we’re saying right now, even though it isn’t backed by data — it’s backed by common sense — that if you have two vaccinated people and they want to get together, be they family members, friends that you know are vaccinated, you can start getting together as individual people, even though the risk is not zero,” the doctor said. “The risk becomes extremely low when you have both parties vaccinated. So we’re gonna start seeing people saying, ’hey, the more people [who] get vaccinated, I can have dinner with my family member that comes in.”
Mr. Cuomo then pressed his guest for a clearer deadline as to when the nation will return to normalcy, given the various lockdowns and nearly 510,000 U.S. deaths attributed to the virus.
“When do you think we’ll start seeing, ’hey, if you’re vaccinated, you can go to this restaurant. There’s no capacity restrictions for vaccinated people,’” he asked.
“I think you’re going to see a gradual increment of that where you could start doing things normal [sic],” he replied. “There’s gonna be a benefit, but personally, socially, and from a public health standpoint of people getting vaccinated. … When my daughter wants to come in here and she’s doubly vaccinated, I’m gonna have her over the house and I’m gonna to give her a big hug that I haven’t been able to do in over a year. You gotta use some common sense.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci urges all Americans to get vaccinated as soon as it is their turn, promising there will be “benefit both socially and personally, and from a public health standpoint.” https://t.co/4hzSawki9u pic.twitter.com/FAmROWkwPm
— CNN (@CNN) February 26, 2021
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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