Dr. Anthony Fauci says people need to learn how to live with COVID-19 and make their own medical decisions.
The White House chief medical adviser said people should take into account how old they are, whether they live with vulnerable individuals, and their vaccination status when deciding what precautions to take.
"This is not going to be eradicated, and it’s not going to be eliminated," Fauci told Jonathan Karl on ABC’s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on Sunday. "And what’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take."
"We're at that point where, in many respects, we're going to have to live with some degree of virus in the community," he added.
Saying that increased case counts are to be expected as mandates have largely been lifted and immunity to the virus has waned, Fauci urged Congress to approve more funding, so the country has the tests, drugs and vaccines it needs for a new wave.
"If we don't get that support, we're not going to be ready for it," he said.
The Washington Post reports that at least 67 people who attended the Gridiron Dinner in Washington, D.C., last week have tested positive for the virus, including several White House officials and congressional lawmakers.
"I think the people who run functions, who run big dinners, who run functions like the White House correspondents’ ball, or thinking back, the Gridiron Dinner, are going to have to make a determination looking at the CDC guidelines and seeing where the trends are," Fauci said.
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