The coronavirus infection rate in America is 10 times higher than necessary in order to end the pandemic, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert.

"In a country of our size, you can't be hanging around and having 100,000 infections a day. You've got to get well below 10,000 before you start feeling comfortable," Fauci told Axios.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Sept. 3, the 7-day moving average of daily COVID-19 infections is 153,246, marking a 4.9% increase in the previous 7-day moving average. The current average is 123.6% higher than the value observed a year ago.

With the current infection rate as high as it is, Fauci stressed that the virus remains a threat to the public’s health.

Once enough people are vaccinated, Fauci said, "you'll still get some people getting infected, but you're not going to have it as a public health threat."

As of Thursday, the CDC reports 62.7% of the public has received at least one shot of the vaccine with 53.3% of the eligible U.S. population being fully vaccinated.

Fauci added that while vaccines are available and effective, not enough is being done to mitigate the spread of the virus. Fauci warned that a “monster variant” may form that is resistant to the vaccine the longer the pandemic persists.

In an early September briefing, as reported by Yahoo! News, Fauci said he is “keeping a very close eye” on the Mu variant, a strain of COVID-19 that the World Health Organization says could have the potential to circumvent the immune system of vaccinated people.

However, Fauci added that the Mu variant is not an “immediate threat” because the Delta variant is still the dominant strain in the country.

“We’re certainly aware of the Mu variant," Fauci said. "We’re keeping a very close eye on it."

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