NIAID director Anthony Fauci told "Meet the Press" Sunday that if more Americans get vaccinated in accordance with the Biden administration's goals, COVID-19 surges may be replaced by "blips."
State of play: Last week the President Joe Biden announced his goal to get 160 Americans fully vaccinated by July 4, with at least 70% of Americans having at least one shot.
- Fauci expressed confidence that reaching the goal of 70% was doable, per NBC News.
What they're saying: "If we get to the goals that the president has established — namely if we get 70% of the people vaccinated by the fourth of July ... you may see blips but if we handle them well it is unlikely that you'll see the kind of surge that we saw in the late fall and the early winter," Fauci said.
- "The larger proportion of the population that's vaccinated, the less likelihood that in a season like the coming fall or winter you're going to see a significant surge. There's no doubt about that."