Uh-huh.
Optimism (and the stock markets) exploded last week when reports emerged that a new COVID-19 experimental vaccine was testing at 90% effectiveness. But Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said even after it’s widely available, Americans will still need to practice the precautions now in place, like wearing masks and social distancing.
“I would recommend to people to not to abandon all public health measures just because you’ve been vaccinated,” Fauci told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“Because even though for the general population it might be 90 to 95 percent effective, you don’t necessarily know for you how effective it is,” said Fauci, an immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who served on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Fauci, 81, said that even after he receives a vaccine, he still won’t feel comfortable abandoning precautions.
“I can feel more relaxed in essentially not having the stringency that we have right now, but I think abandoning it completely would not be a good idea,” Fauci said.
“It’s not going to be a light switch, Jake,” Fauci said. “We’re not going to turn it on and off, going from where we are to completely normal. … It’s going to be a gradual accrual of more normality as the weeks and the months go by as we get well into 2021.”