Dr. Fauci says normal life won’t return until fall 2021 even with vaccine rollout

"We can do both, we can keep the country open and we can abide by the public health measures. That together with a vaccine, I believe in 2021 we will see this behind us... It's not going to happen in the first few months. If we do it correctly, hopefully, as we get into the end of the summer, the beginning of the fall of 2021, we can start to approach some degree of normality," said the White House infectious disease expert in an interview.

"Whenever you have a very large operation, such as trying to vaccinate an entire country with a new vaccine, there always will be bumps in the road. We hope ... as we get into the first week or so of January, we'll catch up quickly with that 20-million-dose-in-the-arms projection that we had. And as we get into the middle of January, February, March, we would be on the target," continued Fauci, according to Fox News.

Right now, 3 million doses of the new Pfizer vaccine have been administered across the US. This is far behind the stated target of having 20 million doses given out by the new year.

There is some concern that state and local governments are underfunded and incapable of moving as quickly as the rest of the country would like.