Fauci describes the word 'mandates' as 'radioactive,' but says people seem to react better to 'requirements'

During an interview on CNBC, chief medical advisor to the president Dr. Anthony Fauci described the term "mandates" as "a radioactive word," but noted, "requirements, people seem to respond better to that."

The public health figure said that "we're never gonna get outta this outbreak if we still have 50 million people who for reasons that are still very, very difficult to understand, refuse to get vaccinated when you have a virus that's killed 800,000 Americans ... So if people still do not wanna get vaccinated sometimes you have to, for the common good, make requirements."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 65.2% of the U.S. population consisting of people ages 5 and above has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 77.1% of that demographic has received at least one dose.

While the current definition of full vaccination involves receiving two shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Fauci says that people should get a booster in order to achieve the best protection.

"But there's no doubt that optimum vaccination is with a booster. I mean there is no doubt about that. Whether or not the CDC is gonna change that, it certainly is on the table and open for discussion. I'm not sure exactly when that will happen," he said.

The CDC on Thursday endorsed the recommendation of an advisory panel that had voted unanimously to recommend mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as the "preferred" option compared to the Janssen vaccine.

"Today, CDC is endorsing updated recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the prevention of COVID-19, expressing a clinical preference for individuals to receive an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine over Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine," the CDC noted on Thursday.

Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than three decades, has been a prominent and polarizing figure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

During an interview on MSNBC earlier this month, Fauci said that while it would be preferable for people to get vaccinated voluntarily, if they are not willing to do so, "sometimes you've gotta do things that are unpopular but that clearly supersede individual choices and are directed predominantly at the communal good."

Vaccine mandates imposed by governments and by private sector businesses have proven to be highly controversial throughout the pandemic, with some Americans decrying them as infringements on individual liberty.