As VP Pence gets COVID-19 vaccine, Fauci says if enough people receive shot, 'we can start thinking seriously about the return to normality'

Dr. Anthony Fauci says that if enough Americans receive a COVID-19 vaccination, the U.S. can begin to start seriously considering a return to normalcy.

His remarks came after Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams received their coronavirus vaccines on Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also received COVID-19 vaccinations Friday. And President-elect Joe Biden and his wife will be getting the vaccine Monday.

What are the details?

The Pences and Adams received their COVID-19 vaccinations on live television, according to a report from the Associated Press.

During the televised event, Pence assured Americans that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is safe.

Of the vaccine, the vice president said, "Hope is on the way."

"The American people can be confident: We have one, and perhaps within hours, two safe vaccines," he added with an apparent nod to Moderna's forthcoming COVID-19 vaccination, which is awaiting FDA authorization.

Following the Pences' vaccination, Dr. Fauci issued remarks about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine in returning to a more normal way of life.

"The time is now to step to the plate, and when your time comes, to get vaccinated," he said. "Because when we're speaking to you here today, I often say it is really bittersweet. The bitterness is the fact of what the vice president mentioned: We still are in the middle of a very difficult situation with record numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

"But the sweetness is the light at the end of the tunnel, which I can tell you, as we get into January, February, March, and April, that light is going to get brighter and brighter," the infectious diseases expert proclaimed. "And the bitterness is going to be replaced by the sweetness."

He concluded, "And we all hope — and I think this is doable — that by the time we get to several months into this year, we will have enough people protected that we can start thinking seriously about a return to normality. That's up to all of us to step forward and get vaccinated."