Fauci: We won't be able to sit in theaters without masks until a year after an effective coronavirus vaccine is created

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's leading expert on COVID-19, said theaters and cinemas likely won't be back to normal, welcoming a mask-less public, for at least another year.

• Fauci told the actress Jennifer Garner during an Instagram Live broadcast on Wednesday that a vaccine would need to be out for almost a year before theaters are safe to go to without masks.

• "If we get a really good vaccine and just about everybody gets vaccinated, you'll have a degree of immunity in the general community that I think you can walk into a theater without a mask," Fauci said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, said on Wednesday that people likely wouldn't be able to safely go to theaters for at least another year.

Fauci made his prediction in a 30-minute interview with the actress Jennifer Garner on Instagram Live about vaccines, lockdowns, and the coming flu season.

As a film fan and performer, Garner asked Fauci, "When are we going to be able to sit in a theater and watch our favorite performers up on stage again?"

"I think it's going to be a combination of a vaccine that has been around for almost a year and good public-health measures," Fauci told Garner.