Dr. Anthony Fauci expresses optimism that stadiums could be full again in 2021

It may not be during basketball season or before baseball begins, but Dr. Anthony Fauci is confident stadiums will once again be full in 2021. 

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that although filling arenas and bowls to capacity is one of the final signs of defeating the pandemic, he could envision packed crowds in the fall thanks to the development and distribution of a vaccine.  

One condition underscores that prediction: the willingness of American adults to become vaccinated. 

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"By the time you get (the vaccine) to the general public, the people who'll be going to the basketball games, who don't have any underlying conditions, that's gonna be starting the end of April, May, June," Fauci told Yahoo Sports on Monday. "So it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable (with full sports stadiums) — if a lot of people get vaccinated. I don't think we're going to be that normal in July. I think it probably would be by the end of the summer." 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed optimism for normality toward the end of 2021. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images)

Fauci added that full NFL stadiums by the start of the 2021 season (September) was a possibility, but that there would be a gradual expansion of capacities before every seat is sold. 

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