National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks to the press outside the White House on March 12. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Novel coronavirus may not recede completely at the end of this season but its impact will likely be more modest in a future wave, the top US infectious disease doctor said Thursday.

“Once we get by it, it is conceivable and maybe likely that when we get to the next season, we may see another blip of this, but it would really be different,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a live-streamed conversation with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The new coronavirus “spreads too efficiently” to disappear like SARS did, said Fauci.

That means that even after this coronavirus outbreak is suppressed, a recurrence is “likely -- not inevitable, but likely," he added.

The comments came after Zuckerberg asked about the likelihood of another coronavirus wave, either in the fall or later.

Fauci said that while it may happen, multiple factors would blunt the impact of future outbreaks.

First, “a certain percentage of the population will already have been immune, a bit of what we call herd immunity.”

This means more people -- after recovering from coronavirus -- would be protected against future infections.

And if a second wave comes, “we likely, by that time, will have tested a number of drugs,” Fauci added. “Hopefully some of them will be effective in treatment.”

Finally, “we hopefully, within a year to a year and a half, would have a vaccine,” Fauci said.

“So although we’re preparing, and maybe expecting for it to come back, it’s not going to come back in the same circumstances as it first came.”