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Asked if she agrees that 85% is the percentage of the population that should be vaccinated, in agreement with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Walensky declined to put a number on it. She said estimates on the right percentage for herd immunity vary dramatically.

\"[It] depends on how transmissible the virus is, and that we estimate that number based on the transmissibility. ... What we know is that transmissibility is actually a little bit of a moving target, because with more variants, some of these variants are more transmissible. So the more transmissible the variant, the more likely we're going to need a larger proportion of the population vaccinated,\" she said.

On Wednesday, the CDC reported a seven-day average of 62,000 cases a day.

During a White House briefing last week, Walensky urged caution amid fears of a fourth wave. Then days later, the CDC updated its guidance on travel for fully vaccinated people. The guidance said that fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without COVID-19 testing or quarantines as long as they continue to take precautions like wearing a mask, socially distancing and washing their hands.

Asked about the \"confusing\" messaging by Ashton, Walensky said \"sometimes the messages are complex\" and that people working in public health aren't treating individuals, they are treating the population.

\"PHOTO:
Susan Walsh/AP, FILE
PHOTO: Rochelle Walensky, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 8, 2020.
>

\"We need to be able to offer people who are vaccinated things that they are able to do if we want people to come forward and get vaccinated: visit with their loved ones, visit their grandchildren, perhaps travel on a plane at lower risk. That's an individual message,\" she said. \"While we have fully vaccinated 19% of the population, 80% of the population remains unvaccinated and that is certainly enough to cause a surge. And so on a population level, we still very much need to practice good public health measures -- masking mitigation, distancing.\"

She still stood behind President Joe Biden's comments that the Fourth of July holiday will look a little more normal.

\"I would say still practice the mitigation strategies, still mask, still distance, try and keep the crowds to a minimum,\" Walensky said. \"Because I really do think that when we get most of this country vaccinated, we can get back to a healthier, more normal evening at the baseball field.\"

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