Fauci Says Covid Zero is a Pipe Dream: ‘We Certainly Are Not Going to Eradicate It’

Dr. Anthony Fauci does not believe that a future without Covid-19 exists — at least in some form.

On Sunday’s edition of Meet the Press, moderator Chuck Todd quizzed the infectious disease expert about whether Covid-19 will ever go away completely.

“Is it pretty clear this is now an endemic?” Todd asked. He added, “How does this end any other way? … That we’re gonna have this virus circulate for perpetuity.”

“We certainly are not going to eradicate it,” Fauci said. “We’ve only ever eradicated one virus, and that’s smallpox. Elimination means there’s none of it in the country like we have now with polio and measles. I don’t think we’re going to be there with this.”

That said, Fauci went on to express a bullish view that the U.S., with vaccination, can get to a level where Covid doesn’t have a “major impact” on day-to-day life.

“What I do think we will be able to do is get a level of control that’s low enough that it doesn’t interfere with our function,” Fauci said. “It doesn’t have a major impact on society, and what we do. It’s not going to go away. The lower we get it, the better off we’ll be. And you get it that low when you get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated and boosted.

“Like I’ve said multiple times, chuck, it’s within our own grasp of how we’re gonna be able to live with the virus.”

Fauci’s assessment comes as the new Omicron variant of the virus has been detected in multiple countries. Fauci, earlier in the interview with Todd, called Omicron “troublesome,” but believes that the vaccines will still offer protection against the most serious outcomes.

Watch above, via NBC.

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