Fauci Isn't Sure He'd Say 'Doom'

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that he agrees with the emotional warning Dr. Rochelle Walensky issued this week about coronavirus cases increasing. But he might have phrased it differently, the Hill reports. "You know, I don't know if I would use the word 'impending doom,'" Fauci said on CBS's This Morning. But he agrees with the general idea. "We're seeing the cases that have plateaued over the last couple of weeks and now they're starting to inch up," he said. "So the point that she was making was very valid." Continue to be careful, he said, and don't "declare victory" too soon. The CDC director had told the nation Monday that the rising number of cases could threaten progress being made against the virus by vaccines.

Walensky's outlook has brightened since then. In an appearance in Boston on Tuesday, she said that though there's plenty to worry about, there's also "so much reason for hope." Walensky cited the numbers, per WBZ: 95 million Americans have had one dose of vaccine, and 53 million are fully vaccinated. She urged people to be vaccinated as soon as possible and keep wearing masks. Walensky explained her "impending doom" sentiment as "this feeling that I've had surge after surge, serving on the front lines at Massachusetts General Hospital and recognizing that right now it's preventable." (More Anthony Fauci stories.)