Tipsheet

'Fauci Got the Memo,' Says 'Full Blown' Pandemic Phase Nearly Over

After two years, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States is exiting the “full-blown pandemic phase of Covid-19.”

In an interview with the Financial Times, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases pointed to vaccines, therapeutics, and natural immunity as drastically changing the pandemic in the months to come. 

He further noted that decisions related to Covid-19 “will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated. There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.”

Covid-19 restrictions, such as mask mandates, will also likely end in the near term, Fauci said, but he left the door open to such decisions changing if outbreaks occur.

“There is no way we are going to eradicate this virus,” Fauci reportedly told the Times. “But I hope we are looking at a time when we have enough people vaccinated and enough people with protection from previous infection that the Covid restrictions will soon be a thing of the past.”

Fauci also changed his tune on booster shots.

"It will depend on who you are," he said. "But if you are a normal, healthy 30-year-old person with no underlying conditions, you might need a booster only every four or five years."