America’s top infectious disease official discusses the state of the coronavirus, booster shots, mandates and the end of the pandemic.

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4)
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
I you don’t, but people who read and hear what you say take it out of context. So I’m not saying you do. I would absolutely prefer that we do not have to do mandates, because I think we should get people to do things on their own accord. However, one thing we do know, that mandates work. They’ve worked for United Airlines.

Michael Barbaro
Right.

Dr.

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3)
Michael Barbaro
So what you’re describing is a two-pronged strategy here. Of course, getting more and more people vaccinated, and boosting as many people who have been vaccinated as possible.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
I think, Michael, that the boosting is going to be an absolutely essential component of our response. Not a bonus, not a luxury, but an absolute essential part of the program.

Michael Barbaro
But you know that

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7)
Michael Barbaro
Right.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
Because the more dynamic of infection, the greater likelihood that a vaccinated person, whose immunity might be waning, the greater likelihood that that person will come into contact with someone who’s spreading the infection.

Michael Barbaro
Right. So final question. Should anyone be traveling this year, even with unvaccinated children, to see other members of their family? I know last year you didn’t get

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7)
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
Well, I think it’s a sad state of affairs, where you have public health officials who are clearly doing things that have no other objective but to preserve and protect the health of the American public, who get attacked for that, whose lives get threatened, whose families get harassed. I mean, I’m experiencing it on steroids here for the last well over a year.

Where else and

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6)
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
Well, I mean, ultimately all pandemics burn themselves out. In the modern age of biomedical research and public health interventions, you can mitigate the ultimate negative impact of outbreaks.

In 1918, we had the pandemic flu. It burned itself out ultimately. So you have a choice. Do you want it to burn itself out and kill a lot more people and make a lot more people sick,

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5)
OK, so just to lay out the next step in the mandate story, what ends up happening if the mandates don’t work? For example, the president’s large company mandate that’s now been paused by courts. And there are governors around the country, particularly Republican, who are battling these mandates or have passed laws against mandates so that local level mandate you’re talking about is not happening in those places. So if

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2)
Number two, you have about 60 plus million people in the country who are unvaccinated, although they are eligible to be vaccinated.

Point number three, we are seeing something that is really interesting, and I’d like to get a little bit more unpacking of it with you in a bit. Ans that is we’re starting to see waning immunity against infection and waning immunity in the beginning aspect against hospitalization.

And

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1)

0:05/35:30
An Interview With Dr. Anthony Fauci
America’s top infectious disease official discusses the state of the coronavirus, booster shots, mandates and the end of the pandemic.
Friday, November 12th, 2021
Michael Barbaro
From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.

[Music]
On yesterday’s show, we explored the profound challenges facing local public health officials as they try to fight Covid-19. Today: We speak with the nation’s