During an interview with Business Insider, Fauci explained that we can likely expect at least another full year of donning PPE, saying, “A combination of an effective vaccine and adherence to certain public-health principles will get us to the point where we want to be, by the end of 2021.“ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb He noted that the emphasis on developing and distributing an effective vaccine was being misunderstood as a kind of silver bullet solution. “I never said just the vaccine,” he explained. “You never should abandon the public health measures.” This is not the first time the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director has made this estimation. When asked during a recent Instagram Live interview with actor Jennifer Garner when it would be “safe” to go to theaters again, Fauci said that it probably wouldn’t be until the end of next year when people could go out in public without face coverings. “Words like ‘safe’ are charged,” he told Garner. “I’m talking about the general trend of when we’ll start to feel comfortable going back to normal if we get a safe and effective vaccine.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Other medical experts have echoed Fauci’s predication about a longer mask timeline. “You still need to wear that mask,” Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told Business Insider. “What worries me is that people are going to see this vaccine as a magic dust that’s going to go over our country and make the virus stop. It doesn’t work that way.” And for more on when you can leave your face uncovered, check out Dr. Fauci Says You Don’t Need to Wear a Mask in This One Scenario.
