President Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, tells “Axios on HBO” that despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, emerging variants could be an “obstacle” and Americans should not be satisfied.
News management: The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shared his thoughts on contemplating his own mortality, working with Biden and talking to teachers about returning to school before everyone is vaccinated.
Fauci called for suffering and the death of the last “amazing” months, with January and December the worst months to begin with. “The number of cases was between 300,000 and 400,000 a day,” he said. “The death toll was between 3,000 and 4,000 a day.”
- While “things are going in the right direction … we will also be provoked by the emergence of variants or mutants that have appeared, some of which have a functional influence on how we respond to them,” he said. said. “Fortunately, others are well covered by the vaccine, but not all.”
- “You don’t want people to be satisfied. We still have a long way to go … We may have another obstacle to appear with the emergence of variants that would dominate the image.”
The other side: Fauci, who was vaccinated, expressed optimism that as more Americans receive their doses, friends or relatives who have both been vaccinated may eventually reunite as they would like.
- “Can I get my daughter down from Boston, which I haven’t seen in a long time?” he said. “Can I sit down and have dinner with her without worrying about the spread of the infection? Can I give her a hug the way I want? I think the answer will be yes in the end, but I think we’ll wait to see what it looks like recommendations. “
In discussions with teachers, Fauci said: “You have to understand and sympathize with them a lot, that they take care of their own safety, so you can’t minimize this.”
- “You also have to fight for resources to allow schools to open safely. So, ensuring masks, good ventilation, good seat distance, all these things together will make schools open safely. “
- He said of his task of providing guidance to all Americans: “Sometimes it’s humiliating because you have to make a decision based on incomplete data.”
Fauci, 80, said he was facing fears that the virus could catch him, especially during Donald Trump’s presidency.
- “I didn’t decide on that, but it was on my mind, because I had to be there,” he said. “I mean, especially when I went to the White House every day, when the White House was a kind of super-popular location.”
- He said he had pledged to tell some president harsh truths, but did not stress so much now, because Biden was “very attached to the concept of ‘scientific rules’ and you act on what your scientific data and evidence tell you.” do.”
Bottom line: Fauci said he is aware that for some he is a cultural icon, while others have made threats against him and his family – but he is trying to block them and focus on the pandemic. “Currently, it is my scientific responsibility to do everything I can to end this.”