Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, recently said that he sees the US coming back to normal by the fall of 2021. This would be provided that the vaccination campaign is successful and the public achieves enough herd immunity, and despite the current difficulties in vaccine distribution.
“By the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality - schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants,” Fauci said.
Fauci commented that the UK COVID-19 variant, known for being more contagious, is probably not more severe than the prevalent strain, adding that the recently approved coronavirus vaccines will be effective against it.
According to Fauci, the virus, which so far has infected about 20,216,991 individuals in the United States and killed 350,778, is currently out of control.
“We are really at a very critical point…as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse,” warned Fauci. “We very well might see a post-seasonal…surge, and, as I have described it, as a surge upon a surge.”
The current vaccination campaign is also being heavily criticized since distribution has not been as quick as expected, at least compared to other countries' rollouts. President-Elect Joe Biden, who is beginning his term on January 20th, pledged to speed up the distribution of the vaccine, highlighting that the vaccination campaign will take years given the size of the US population.
The US Congress is meeting next week to certify the recent presidential election results, which favored Democratic Candidate Joe Biden. The media have been reporting that some Republican lawmakers plan to object to the electors and force a vote, though even if Trump manages to get enough support in the Republican-controlled Senate, the move won't be a significant delay due to the fact that the House of Representatives is currently under Democratic control.
By 7:17 GMT, the US Dollar Index fell by 0.09 percent to the 89.60 level.