By Julie Steenhuysen

(Reuters). -A top U.S. infection official, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated Tuesday that COVID-19 can be reduced to an endemic condition from the major current health crisis in the United States next year if there is an increase in vaccination rates.

Booster doses for the COVID-19 vaccinations are essential to reach that level, Fauci stated in an interview at the Reuters Total Health conference. It runs virtual from Nov. 15-18. [https://reutersevents.com/events/healthcare/]

Fauci stated, “If you don’t want to become endemic you need to make sure that the infection level is so low it doesn’t have any impact on society or your life and your economy.” “People will still get infected. Although people might be admitted to hospital, the infection rate would not reach the point where we think it will. It wouldn’t have any effect on what we do.

He said that it would require a lot more people to get vaccinated or boosters in order to achieve this goal.

Fauci said that if the United States made boosters accessible to everyone it was possible for the country to get rid of the virus before spring 2022.

See what others are doing about creating a boost campaign that is virtually available for all citizens. Fauci added that “if we do this, and we do so in earnest I believe we can control this by the spring.”