In a CNN special that aired Sunday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the “best decision” he made was fast-tracking efforts to produce a vaccine.

“When I saw what happened in New York City, almost overrunning of our health care system, it was like, ‘Oh my goodness,’” Fauci told CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

“And that’s when it became very clear that the decision we made on January the 10th – to go all out and develop a vaccine – may have been the best decision that I’ve ever made with regard to an intervention as director of the institute.”