People have been required to wear masks in Disney World and at other places all around the United States for several months now.

Some might be wondering how long people will be expected to wear masks in the United States. And now we’ve got an idea of how long masks may be sticking around according to one expert.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chief medical advisor for COVID-19 for President Biden has previously said that he believes that hopefully by the time we get to July, there will be enough vaccinates for virtually everyone. He has also shared that if about 85% of the US population is vaccinated by the end of the summer, we could be approaching a degree of normalcy in the US by the end of the fall.

Despite this, according to the New York Times, Dr. Fauci has indicated that Americans may still be wearing masks outside of their own homes a year from now. That would mean that people in the US might still need to wear face masks in 2022.

This past Sunday, Dr. Fauci appeared on the CNN program State of the Union. On that program, he spoke about the number of cases nationally that would make him feel comfortable to stop recommending universal masking. In reference to that, Dr. Fauci said “I want it to keep going down to a baseline that’s so low there is virtually no threat.”

Dr. Fauci also said “If you combine getting most of the people in the country vaccinated with getting the level of virus in the community very, very low, then I believe you’re going to be able to say, for the most part, we don’t necessarily have to wear masks.”

In terms of when vaccines could get to some school-age children, Dr. Fauci shared that he hopes high school students would be eligible for vaccination in the fall. But, Dr. Fauci said that vaccinations for younger children likely won’t be available before the beginning of the first quarter of 2022.

On the CNN program, Dr. Fauci also talked about the COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa. In clinical trials involving the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, patients who were vaccinated were not protected from mild to moderate illness caused by the South African variant. Dr. Fauci noted that the variant is still rare in the US, but if it becomes more dominant, we may need a version of the vaccinate that’s “effective specifically against” it.

President Biden has already signed an executive order requiring masks to currently be worn in airports, commercial aircraft, and other forms of public transportation. We’ve also seen that the CDC will require face masks on cruises and other transportation.

In terms of masking at Disney World, masks continue to be required, even for those who have already received the COVID-19 vaccine. Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek has indicated that masks are expected to be required in Disney World through 2021.

When it comes to 2022, Chapek noted that he doesn’t expect Disney to be at the same level of social distancing and mask-wearing then. But, of course, all of this is subject to change depending on the developing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations.

We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more updates and let you know what we see.

Click here to see 4 Disney mask and social distancing updates.

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

The post NEWS: Masks May Still Be Needed in 2022 According to Dr. Fauci first appeared on the disney food blog.