Fauci clarifies 'the pandemic is not over' on NPR podcast

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Dr. Anthony Fauci clarified his previous comments regarding how the United States is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the White House chief medical advisor appeared on NPR’s "1A" podcast to discuss the aftermath of a U.S. district court judge striking down the federal mask mandate for public transportation. The discussion pivoted to Fauci’s Tuesday statement on how the United States was easing out of the pandemic.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the NIAID (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase," Fauci said during an interview with PBS NewsHour.

When asked about these comments, Fauci clarified that he actually does not believe the pandemic is over.

"I want to clarify one thing," Fauci said. "I probably should have said the acute component of the pandemic phase. And I understand how that can lead to some misinterpretation. I was talking about the acute fomenting phase, and everyone agrees we’re not there. We’re not getting 900,000 new infections a day."

"Is the pandemic still here? Absolutely," Fauci said. "So when I said phase, I probably should have said the acute stage of the pandemic phase. We’re now transitioning, not there yet, but transitioning to more of an endemicity where the level of infections is low enough that people are starting to learn to live with the virus still protecting themselves by vaccination, by the availability of antivirals, by testing. So I really meant the acute phase as opposed to pandemic."

Washington DC, USA - June 4, 2012: The NPR (National Public Radio) building in Washington DC. Founded in 1970, NPR is a non-profit network of 900 radio stations across the United States. (iStock)

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"The pandemic is not over. Don’t anyone think that," he insisted.

Fauci’s clarification followed the European Union declaring an end to the emergency phase of the pandemic. White House press secretary Jen Psaki also insisted on Wednesday that the pandemic "isn’t over."

"What Dr. Fauci was saying is that we are in a different phase of this pandemic, and that's absolutely true," Psaki said.

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Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Regarding countries outside the United States, Fauci said "no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing."

Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.