Fauci’s comments Sunday came in response to a question about comments that Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, made last week on CNBC. He said that relaxing indoor mask mandates now — “especially in environments where you know you have a high level of vaccination”— would give public health officials “the credibility to implement them” again in the fall or winter if cases surge again.
Fauci, asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s Sunday program “This Week” whether he agreed, said: “I think so, and I think you’re going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated.”
“The CDC will be, almost in real time, George, updating their recommendations and their guidelines,” Fauci added. “But, yes, we do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated.”
