Fauci urges vaccinations to stop new virus strains: 'Viruses cannot mutate if they don't replicate'

"You need to get vaccinated when it becomes available as quickly and as expeditiously as possible throughout the country," Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said in a virtual news briefing with the White House Covid-19 response team. "And the reason for that is ... viruses cannot mutate if they don't replicate. And if you stop their replication by vaccinating widely and not giving the virus an open playing field to continue to respond to the pressures that you put on it, you will not get mutations."

 

Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer later Monday, Fauci said even if someone has had coronavirus, there's a "very high rate" of being reinfected with the new variants if they become dominant.

 

"If it becomes dominant, the experience of our colleagues in South Africa indicate that even if you've been infected with the original virus that there is a very high rate of reinfection to the point where previous infection does not seem to protect you against reinfection," Fauci said on CNN.

 

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the possibility of reinfection by one of the variants is another reason why people should get vaccinated. ...