Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on India travel ban

Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser has spoken out about Australia’s controversial India travel ban, saying the US would have handled things differently.

America’s top infectious diseases expert has weighed into Australia’s controversial ban on citizens returning from India.

Dr Anthony Fauci says the US did not consider locking citizens out despite the risks posed by the country’s mass COVID-19 outbreak.

“You are obligated to receive your own citizens back in the country,” Dr Fauci told Sky News.

“So we never really seriously discussed a complete block of all people coming from India.”

The chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden said US laws and tradition made it “very difficult” to prevent citizens returning to the country.

But he stopped short of criticising the Australian government’s decision.

“I don’t think that was ever a consideration,” he said.

“Australians are very, very serious about not letting people into the country who might be a risk in the sense of spreading infection.

“I don’t really want to criticise what Australia has done. They generally have handled the outbreak really quite well, with some significant success.”

A COVID-19-positive patient uses an oxygen mask while in a hospital intensive care unit in India. Picture: Prakash Singh / AFP

Dr Fauci has previously recommended that India impose a temporary lockdown to halt transmission – a move that has been rejected by the Indian government.

Speaking about his country’s vaccine program, Dr Fauci was confident the President’s goal of giving 70 per cent of Americans their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-year would be reached.

“The 4th of July is a challenging goal, but I believe it’s doable, and I believe we will be successful in reaching it,” Dr Fauci said.

He said the concept of herd immunity was “elusive”, but it was critical authorities reached out to people who were vaccine hesitant.

“Not in the finger-pointing way but in trying to get them to understand why it’s important for their own health, for the health of their families, and for really the societal responsibility of the health of the community,” Dr Fauci said.

“I’ve always said, and continue to say, that the best thing to do is to vaccinate as many people as you possibly can as quickly as you possibly can.”

Dr Anthony Fauci with US Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP

Australian medical experts last month updated their health advice to no longer recommend the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine be given to people aged under 50 due to rare blood clot links.

Dr Fauci said the US drug regulator was yet to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the US because the company was yet to submit their data.

“It isn’t that the FDA is delaying making a decision,” he said.

“It is that the company has not yet submitted the information that’s needed.”