COVID-19 won’t be a pandemic for “a lot longer” thanks to rapid progress in vaccine development, says Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official.

The coronavirus could nonetheless remain endemic for a long time, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said at an event organized by Chatham House, a U.K. think tank.

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“Certainly it’s not going to be pandemic for a lot longer, because I believe the vaccines are going to turn that around,” Fauci said. “Vaccines will help us. What we’ve got to do is just hang on and continue to double down on the public health measures.”

Generally, a pandemic is defined as an infection that puts the global population at risk, while an endemic disease is one that spreads in some areas and not others.

Read more at NEWSMAX.