CNN's Jake Tapper: 'Christmas is probably not gonna be possible'

Halloween was conducted under social distancing, and Thanksgiving has more or less been canceled, and now Christmas is next to come on the chopping block—or at least, that’s what Jake Tapper wants you to think—as he suggested during an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the state of the pandemic.

Case numbers for the COVID-19 coronavirus have surged past the 150,000 daily mark as a second wave of infections is hitting the United States.

Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on a return to normality, Dr. Fauci stated that “the vaccine has to get deployed and we can’t abandon fundamental public health measures. You can approach a degree of normality while still doing some fundamental health things that synergize with the vaccine to get us back to normal.”

“So not until the second or third quarter of 2021, though. Christmas is probably not gonna be possible,” replied Tapper.

Dr. Fauci has stated that even following the release of the vaccine, the public will have to continue to social distance and wear masks.

“I would recommend to people to not to abandon all public health measures just because you’ve been vaccinated. Because even though for the general population it might be 90 to 95 percent effective, you don’t necessarily know for you how effective it is,” he said.

“I can feel more relaxed in essentially not having the stringency that we have right now, but I think abandoning it completely would not be a good idea.”