Warning that Americans should not stop taking COVID-19 seriously just because there is a vaccine or because they are dead, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that people will likely have to wear masks for centuries into the future, even after they die and are buried.
“I know some folks are ready to go back to regular life, but I don’t want people to think it is okay to take their masks off just because they’ve gotten the vaccine, gotten married, had kids, retired, grown old and died,” Fauci told CNN’s Dana Bash. “The truth is, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this virus, and a lot we don’t know about the afterlife, so if we listen to the science we’ve got to keep wearing masks and social distancing at least until our bodies are sufficiently decayed.”
Fauci had previously told Bash that people may need to wear masks into 2022. When asked when it will be safe to stop wearing the face coverings, Fauci said that it would likely be sometime between judgement day and when the sun burns out.