“What do you think [about the contention] that you’re being very, very, very cautious to the point of making it impossible to come out of this?” Cavuto asked, citing concerns raised by Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary.

“Well, first of all, let me respond to one thing that that person is saying that he’s just completely misunderstanding,” Fauci responded. “When he said I talk about herd immunity [and that] I’m only considering people that [are] vaccinating. That is completely incorrect. When you talk about herd immunity, which is an elusive concept because we don’t know what that percentage is, it’s a combination of the people who have already been infected and very likely are protected, plus the people that get vaccinated. Those are a group of people which together are individuals that are generally immune or protected.

“Regarding being too cautious, we want to make sure that when we make recommendations, we do it on the basis of the science … It is likely that, if you’re vaccinated, that you’re not going to spread infection if you get infected without any symptoms. There’s no doubt about that. I understand that as well as anybody else — But there’s studies that are coming online now that will definitively prove that.”