Anthony Fauci will spend Christmas away from his three adult daughters

Anthony Fauci will spend Christmas away from his three adult daughters

Credit: Eric Baradat/AFP

America’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci and his wife will spend the festive season away from their three adult daughters rather than risk spreading the coronavirus.

The separation will mean that the Fauci clan will also be kept apart on his 80th birthday on Christmas Eve.

"This cannot be business as usual this Christmas because we’re already in a very difficult situation, and we’re going to make it worse, if we don’t do something about it,"  he told the Washington Post.

It will be the first Christmas that the family have been separated since his daughters were born.

"That’s painful. We don’t like that. But that’s just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented challenging time.”

Dr Fauci urged Americans to follow his example as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases topped 17 million in the US, with many experts pinning the blame for the pandemic surge on family gatherings during November’s Thanksgiving holiday.

"This is an unusual situation, it’s not going to last forever, it is highly likely that with vaccines being distributed, that we will be back to normal by next Christmas."

Dr Fauci’s plea came with the US Food and Drug Administration on the cusp of approving a second vaccine.

FDA experts met on Thursday to consider a shot produced by Moderna which had been shown to be 94-95 per cent effective in clinical trials.

What happens once you’ve had the Pfizer/BioNTech jab?

It is expected that the vaccine will be given Emergency Use Authorisation on Friday  with Moderna saying it expects to have 20 million doses — enough to innoculate 10 million people — available by the end of the year.

The vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech  was given the green light by US regulators last Friday and millions of doses are expected to have been delivered to more than 1,000 locations across the country by the weekend.

While the most recent polls showing growing confidence in the vaccine among Americans, there are fears that the pace of inoculation could be slowed by individuals reluctant to have a shot.

Vice-president Mike Pence and his wife Karen will be vaccinated on television on Friday alongside surgeon general Jerome Adams to promote public confidence, the White House said.

President-elect Joe Biden, whose public inauguration is to be scaled back because of Covid-19, will be vaccinated next week. 

Three former presidents — Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton — have said they are willing to receive the jab on live television.