Fauci: There could be 300,000 to 400,000 Covid deaths unless precautions taken

Fauci added that a vaccine likely won’t be widely available until next summer or fall. That timeline is in line with a prediction by CDC Director Robert Redfield, who warned the Senate Appropriations Committee last month that it would take about six to nine months to vaccinate the public once a vaccine is approved.

Moncef Slaoui, the scientific leader of the government program rushing through vaccine development, wrote in August that 300 million vaccine doses could be available by the middle of next year.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also said during the New Yorker Festival on Monday that normal life may not resume until the end of 2021 due to the challenges of distributing the vaccine.

During his AU talk, Fauci also addressed recent public skepticism toward him. Though numerous polls over the summer found overwhelming bipartisan confidence in the infectious disease expert, faith in him has since started to wane, particularly among Republicans.

“Maybe 50 percent of you hate me because you think I’m trying to destroy the country, but listen to me for six weeks or so, and do what I say, and you’ll see the numbers go down,” Fauci said, according to the university.