Fauci Backs Ending Covid Emergency, Says More Can Be Done

The White House decision to end the Covid-19 national emergency this spring is “appropriate and timely,” even if there’s still work to be done on the response, Anthony S. Fauci said Wednesday.

“If you look at where we are right now, compared to where we are at the height of things, it’s dramatically different,” President Joe Biden’s former chief medical adviser who was also the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in an interview. “When it’s appropriate, everyone wants to move on—not necessarily feel that we can’t do better—but move on to a next phase, so we can really begin to assimilate some form of approaching normality.”

Fauci’s made his comments just two days after the White House announced the public health emergency for Covid-19 will expire May 11. The administration’s decision comes as the House is scheduled to vote on two Covid-19 policy measures, including one to end the public health emergency (H.R. 382).

At the same time, the nation still faces challenges with 400 to 500 Covid-related deaths per day and low vaccination rates. Just 15.5% of the US population has received the bivalent booster shot that came out last September, and fewer than 70% have received their primary vaccinations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I don’t want people to get the impression that I think there isn’t a lot more we can do. But we don’t need the state of emergency to do it,” Fauci said.

“We need to continue to try as best we can” to make sure everyone is updated on their booster shots, particularly for people who are more vulnerable to severe disease and death, he said. “If we do that, we’ll continue to do better and better.”