Dr. Anthony Fauci says he is hopeful full approval of COVID-19 vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration will come in August and also expects that to spur a large number of vaccine mandates by private companies and institutions.
"No one wants to get ahead of the FDA because they're an independent group that makes their decisions and that's good in many respects because there will never be any concerns that we are influencing them, but I hope, I don't predict, but I hope that it will be within the next few weeks," Fauci said on NBC'S "
Meet the Press." "I hope that it's within the month of August."
That, in turn, could lead to "a flood" of mandates for vaccines, although not at the federal level, he told
USA Today's editorial board in a wide-ranging interview. "Organizations, enterprises, universities, colleges that have been reluctant to mandate at the local level will feel much more confident," Fauci said.
"They can say: 'If you want to come to this college or university, you've got to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this plant, you have to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this enterprise, you've got to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this hospital, you've got to get vaccinated.'"
Fauci adds he does not expect the economy to go into lockdown again. National Institute of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said on ABC's "
This Week" he supported businesses deciding to mandate for vaccines, saying "we ought to use every public health tool that we can when people are dying."
"Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200 plus countries, there will still be new variants," epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant told CNBC Asia, who predicts COVID could become a "forever virus" like the flu.
What this could mean for stocks: So far, public companies have been proactive with mask mandates in high-infection areas and some companies, like Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT), are requiring employees to be vaccinated. Norwegian Cruise Line
(NYSE:NCLH) said on Sunday that a judge had temporarily halted a Florida law prohibiting the requirement to show proof of vaccination, paving the way for the company to ask for proof from its travelers.
These moves have been well received by Wall Street, overall, with the S&P and Dow moving back into record territory amid the announcements. Wells Fargo cites the high U.S. vaccination rate as a chief reason that the economy will not face the disruptions it did during the initial outbreak.
"The bottom line is we do not expect the Delta variant to create meaningful headwinds for the economy as was the case in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic," strategist Scott Wren wrote in a note, but UBS highlights the risk of more mutations.
"While economic fundamentals remain incredibly positive in most major markets, this will only remain the case so long as populations worldwide reach herd immunity levels before mutations such as the Delta variant compromise the protection offered by current vaccines," it said. (
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