Fauci: People Who Get COVID-19 Vaccines Can ‘Start Doing Some of the Things That You Weren’t Able to Do Before’

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

One of President Joe Biden’s top medical advisers on Feb. 28 said people who get COVID-19 shots can do things they couldn’t do before being vaccinated.

“One of the things that I think is going to become clear, that, if you have individuals, adults who are vaccinated, two people that are doubly vaccinated and are protected, then you can do things that we weren’t talking about before. You can have dinner in a home without masks on,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“You can have friends who you know are doubly vaccinated and are protected together with you. So you can start doing things essentially in the home, in a setting where you’re not out in the community, where there are 70,000 new infections per day. And you can start doing some of the things that you weren’t able to do before.”

Fauci said during a press briefing last week that even after people are vaccinated against the CCP virus, there are things “that you’re not going to be able to do,” such as indoor dining.

Restaurants are open across the nation and people have been dining indoors at many of them for months. Fauci’s guidance struck some as unrealistic, particularly as there’s currently no science indicating people who get vaccinated can still spread the virus.

“The thing is, they don’t prove that that happens. They just say, unless you can prove the opposite, you can’t be free and you have to be huddled in your basement wearing a mask. And I’m the opposite: You get your vaccine, you’ve had your second dose, you’re two weeks out, throw away your mask,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a physician, said during a recent appearance on Fox News.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) walks through the Senate Subway at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 11, 2020. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

“If you’ve had the disease and you’re a young person, go to restaurants, go out and visit with your friends, do not hunker down in a basement by yourself, go to school, by all means, let’s get back to normal. And let’s treat this with circumspection the idea that the risks should be according to the individual,” said Paul, who contracted and recovered from the CCP virus.

Fauci is among the group of officials who are urging caution because it’s unclear if vaccines prevent transmission, and has called on people who get vaccinated to keep wearing masks and continue social distancing.

“The endpoint of efficacy of the vaccine is preventing clinically apparent disease, which means that you could get infected, have nasopharynx virus in your nose and in your mouth. But because you are vaccinated, you could feel perfectly well and the issue is now, can you then transmit it to others? So until we prove that that’s not the case, that’s the reason why we’re recommending that when people are vaccinated and are in the presence of unvaccinated people to put a mask on to prevent them from infecting others,” he said on Feb. 28.

Health officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to publish updated guidelines on what people can do after getting vaccinated. That guidance is expected to be released within the next few weeks, Fauci said.

Fauci spoke during appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union,” CBS’s “Face the Nation,” and ABC’s “This Week.”