What Fauci sees coming with the BA.2 coronavirus subvariant in the US

The US could follow the UK trend and see a rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the BA.2 subvariant of the coronavirus, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

President Biden’s top medical adviser said that while cases are still trending down in the US, some states are seeing an increase.

“I think for sure we are going to see a change as people go out more and go into closed places without masks,” he said. “That will certainly result in infections, even in people who are vaccinated.”

New model of the Commonwealth Fund shows that the vaccination campaign in the US has saved more than 2 million lives and prevented 17 million hospitalizations.

Fauci said that Americans may need a second booster shot by the fall and that vaccination could eventually change to an annual shot, like with the flu shot.

speaking to all things consideredFauci explains what he sees coming for the US, the thinking behind the enforcement, and tips for wearing masks indoors.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On what the BA.2 subvariant will do in the US

I think we will see an increase in cases that we are already seeing in certain states. We had a very sharp and steady decline in everything from cases to hospitalizations to deaths, and overall, nationally, we’re still seeing that. But there are some areas, particularly in the Northeast, where we are seeing a change and an increase in cases.

If our pattern follows that of the UK, which is what we usually do and we are typically three to four weeks behind schedule, they are seeing a significant increase in the number of cases. We hope that if that happens, the degree of background immunity that we have in the country… [means] we will not see an increase in severity in the sense of a significant concomitant increase in the number of hospitalizations.

On the need for a second booster injection before the fall

It is difficult to predict. But I think, given the fact that immunity declines over time… that we’re going to need a boost by the time we hit the drop.

I don’t foresee the need to reinforce every four months. But what I imagine could happen, as this all changes, we’ll get into what could be a kind of annual and seasonal approach. We have something perhaps similar to the flu.

I am saying this simply as extrapolations. No one knows for sure what will be required. We will have to look at the data and make decisions.

On not masking at indoor events

The CDC was very clear when they modified their metrics to make recommendations for indoor mask use and said that when the level of infection in the community is low enough to be in what we call the green zone, you could do it with events in interiors.

But if it does change and cases increase, I for one will go back to masking indoors if we have a large increase in cases.

This interview was produced by Linah Mohammad and edited by Amy Isackson.