Fauci says US is 'perilously close' to doctors having to prioritize people for ICU beds

• Dr. Anthony Fauci said some US hospitals are dangerously close to having to choose who gets care.
• ICUs in several states have zero remaining capacity as COVID-19 patients are hospitalized.
• Fauci also reiterated his call for local mandates for vaccines and masks: "We know masks work."

Hospitals in some US states are on the verge of having to choose who gets potentially lifesaving medical treatment, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

"We are perilously close in certain areas of the country of getting so close to having full occupancy that you're going to be in a situation where you're going to have to make some tough choices," said Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

When asked by CNN's Jim Acosta whether a patient's vaccination status would be a factor in determining who gets an ICU bed, Fauci said he doubted the prospect, but said, "There's talk of that."

Fauci's remarks come as hospitals across the country deal with the continued rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with many hospitals reporting zero ICU beds available and several treating twice as many ICU patients as they have capacity for.

Nearly 79% of all ICU beds in the US are full, while more than three out of ten ICU beds are currently occupied by patients with COVID-19, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

"The thing to do right now is to pull out all the stops on everything we can do to prevent new infections which will ultimately lead to hospitalization," Fauci said. "Vaccination is the number one."

The coronavirus Delta variant has led to more severe infections among unvaccinated patients than earlier strains, increasing the likelihood that hospitalization will be required, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. At the same time, vaccinated patients with breakthrough cases have been far less likely to require hospitalization.

Fauci once again called for local requirements for vaccinations and mask wearing, as both have been shown to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

"We've got to make sure that masking is implemented," he said. "There should be mask mandates, because we know masks work."