In an interview on the BBC’s “Sunday Morning,” embattled Biden administration medical advisor Anthony Fauci urged Americans to gear up for another saga of “rigid” government COVID-19 restrictions later this year.
Fauci stressed that he does not want to use the word “lockdowns” to describe the various government limitations soon to be imposed on the American populace because the word “has a charged element to it.”
“I don’t want to use the word ‘lockdowns.’ That has a charged element to it. But, I believe that we must keep our eye on the pattern of what we’re seeing with infections,” he said, noting that America is currently moving toward normal life again.
“Having said that, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we would have another variant that would come along,” Fauci noted. “And then, if things change and we do get a variant that does give us an uptick in cases and hospitalization, we should be prepared and flexible enough to pivot toward going back – at least temporarily – to a more rigid type of restrictions, such as requiring masks indoor.”
Fauci blamed the high transmission rates of the BA.2 COVID variant, easing of authoritarian restrictions, and waning immunity for the potential rise of COVID cases.
“It’s the greater transmissibility of the BA.2, it’s the relaxation of restriction, particularly in the context of indoor masking in congregate settings, and also the fact that immunity, due to both vaccination as well as people who have been previously infected, tends to wane with SARS-CoV-2 – particularly with omicron,” he said.
Last week Fauci said he would “not be surprised at all if we do see somewhat of an uptick” in COVID-19 cases.
Fauci’s calls for more COVID restrictions come as the FDA authorized a fifth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised individuals, Valiant News reported. Not to be confused with the forthcoming fourth dose of the COVID vaccine, the FDA had already approved a four jab regimen for immunocompromised individuals, and has now approved a fifth.
The fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for the general population was recently announced to be in development by Moderna and Pfizer, who hope to have it approved in the fall, Valiant News reported. According to the big pharma companies, it is set to contain a different mRNA formula targeting the omicron variant of the virus.
After Congress authorized $9 billion for the first two-dose COVID-19 vaccines and a third injection as a booster, the Biden White House now says more money is needed for the fourth dose.
