Retiring NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the "severe actions" the Chinese have taken are "OK" if there is an "endgame" or purpose like getting everyone vaccinated. "China’s official news agency today published an op-ed asserting that the country’s strict COVID measure are scientific and effective. Are they?" CNN host Jake Tapper asked. "Well when you want to shut down in order to interrupt immediately a process that’s going on like the spread of infection, there should be a purpose to it like you want to make sure you get enough ventilators or enough PPE or you want to get your population vaccinated," Fauci said. "The comment that I made about their severe actions that they’ve taken is that you have to have an endgame," Fauci continued. "What’s the purpose? If the purpose is let’s get all the people vaccinated, particularly the elderly, then OK. For a temporary period of time to do that, but they have very, very strict type of a lockdown." Tapper commented, "obviously I’m not here to defend the Chinese government, but they say they're doing it just to stop the spread, right?"