#Fauci warns Americans that worst of COVID-19 is still to come

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he believes the worst is still yet to come in the COVID-19 pandemic — and Americans should brace for post-holiday season “surge” in cases.

“We very well might see a post-seasonal — in the sense of Christmas, New Years — surge or as I’ve described it, a surge upon a surge,” Fauci told CNN anchor Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Asked if he predicts that the “worst is still yet to come,” Fauci said, “I do.”

“If you look at the slope, the incline of cases we’ve experienced as we’ve got into the late fall and soon-to-be early winter, it really is quite troubling,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said.

Fauci, however, said that the COVID-19 vaccine is still on track to reach healthy Americans by April — despite the initial rollout lagging behind the goal of 20 million doses for December.

Fauci said he believes that the US will “catch up” in the next few months even though only around 1.9 million doses of the vaccines have been administered so far.

“Of course, when you compare 2 million to 20 million, that’s a big difference,” Fauci said.

“Whenever you roll out a large program that’s a comprehensive vaccine program with a brand new vaccine like this, in the beginning it always starts slow and then starts to gain momentum.”

Fauci said that he believes the rollout will continue to “gain more and more momentum” into the spring.

“I believe we’ll catch up with the projection that by the time we get to April, mid-late April, you’ll have taken the high-priority people and already accounted for them and then anyone can get vaccinated,” Fauci said.