Dr. Anthony Fauci (L), director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks next to Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx, during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards D-LA in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on April 29, 2020. (AFP photo)

A lifting of the ban on travel to the US from Britain could still be months away, and in a worst case may not come until a coronavirus vaccine is available, Dr. Anthony Fauci told a UK newspaper.

The US infectious diseases specialist made the comment in a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph on Sunday, in which he also expressed hope that one or more of the vaccines now in development could be ready by the end of 2020 or early 2021.

It’s going to be really wait and see. I don’t think there’s going to be an immediate pullback for those kinds of travel restrictions, Fauci said. Looking at what’s going on with the infection rate, I think it’s more likely measured in months rather than weeks.

Close to 4 million people from the UK visit the US in a typical year. The US and UK rank one and three in the number of deaths attributed to the virus, and numbers one and five in the number of reported cases

he US, with some exceptions, banned travel from China, the UK and the European Union earlier in the year, and followed up with a ban in May on most travel from Brazil as Covid-19 cases spiked there. Many countries have their own restrictions on incoming travelers to tamp down outbreaks, including outright bans or enforced quarantines.

Two Million Cases

Fauci, a member of the now mostly mothballed White House coronavirus task force, continued to warn against a second wave of Covid-19 infections in the US, even as many states are still facing their first full wave of illnesses.

I would hope to get to some degree of real normality within a year or so. But I don’t think it’s this winter or fall, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the newspaper.

The US recently passed the 2-million mark for cases, although earlier epicenters like New York and New Jersey have seen the pandemic tail off after aggressive action to shut down economic activity.

It is not inevitable that you will have a so-called ‘second wave’ in the fall, or even a massive increase, if you approach it in the proper way, Fauci said.

Source: Bloomberg