Federal Covid-19 guidelines "will be much more liberal" by the Fourth of July if US cases drop as more Americans are vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci,  Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday, CNN reported.

"If by the time we get to the Fourth of July, with the rollout of the vaccine, we get the level of infection so low—I'm not going to be able to tell you exactly what the specific guidelines of the (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) are, but I can tell you for sure (guidelines) will be much more liberal than they are right now about what you can do," Fauci told CNN.

And asked whether people will return to a degree of normal without masks and distancing by the summer holiday, Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, replied: "Yes ... there will be a greater degree of confidence" in that.

The comments from Fauci come nearly a week after the CDC released new guidance saying people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely visit with other vaccinated people and small groups of unvaccinated people in some circumstances.