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- Anthony Fauci said the US can avoid another COVID-19 surge by getting 70% of people vaccinated.
- India and Brazil are now undergoing a rapid COVID-19 surge due in part to the variant strains.
- Fauci stressed COVID-19 are "good" against variants strains of the virus.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Anthony Fauci said another COVID-19 surge can be prevented if enough American adults get vaccinated this summer.
Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, said widespread vaccine use can prevent fall and winter surges of COVID-19.
"We don't want to declare victory prematurely, but if we can get the 70% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by the 4th of July the way the president has set the goal, I think the chances of there being a surge or a rebound is extremely low," Fauci said during the the Bloomberg Businessweek conference on Thursday.
Some areas, like India and Brazil, are facing rapid COVID-19 surges right now, due in part to the spread of more transmissible variant strains of the coronavirus.
Fauci said during the conference that COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are good against variant strains. The immunologist previously told Insider's Aylin Woodward concerns that the vaccine won't work against variants are overblown.
"I don't believe that there's anything to panic about at this point," Fauci told Insider in April.
Moderna is planning to release a booster shot, given vaccine recipients to ward off variant strains, by this fall. The biotech firm found in early studies people who were given the B.1.351-specific booster shot had higher antibody levels than those given another dose of Moderna's original vaccine.
The US has vaccinated 48% of adults over 18 as of May 20, according to the CDC. The country's seven-day new case average has dropped to 29,526 this month after peaking at nearly 300,000 in January.