Fauci says Omicron wave appears to be heading in the ‘right direction' in US

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the latest wave of COVID-19 cases driven by Omicron appeared to already be trending in the “right direction” in the US. ABCNews.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said the latest wave of Omicron-driven COVID-19 cases appear to be trending in the “right direction” in the US — as he predicted that most states will hit their peak of infections by mid-February.

“Things are looking good. We don’t want to get overconfident, but they look like they’re going in the right direction right now,” Fauci told anchor Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.”

While some states in the northeast have already seen cases decline, Fauci said that he is “as confident as you can be” about states in other regions following suit by mid-February.

“If the pattern follows the trend that we’re seeing in other places, such as the northeast, I believe that you will start to see a turnaround throughout the entire country,” Fauci said.

“Since it’s a large country and a great deal of variation in the degree of vaccinations that we have in one region compared to another … there may be a bit more pain and suffering with hospitalizations in those areas of the country that have not been fully vaccinated or have not gotten boosters.”

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci said that several states in the Northeast have started to see a decline in COVID-19 cases.

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Fauci said the hope is in the next few weeks that the level of infections will be below what he calls an “area of control.”

“Control means you’re not eliminating it, you’re not eradicating it, but it gets down to such a low level, that it’s essentially integrated into the general respiratory infections that we have learned to live with,” he said.

“We’d like it to get down to that level, where it doesn’t disrupt us in the sense of getting back to a degree of normality. That’s the best-case scenario,” he added.

Fauci said it’s still not clear whether Americans will need a fourth COVID-19 shot in the coming months.

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A person receives a COVID-19 vaccination dose, during a free distribution of COVID-19 rapid test kits for those who received vaccination shots or booster shots, at Union Station on January 7, 2022.

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Fauci said it’s still not clear whether Americans will need a fourth COVID-19 shot in the coming months, as it’s “quite conceivable” that the immunity from the current boosters will still hold up against the virus.

“We may need to boost again, but before we make that decision, we want to determine what the durability is,” Fauci added.