Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical advisor, tells “Axios on HBO” that despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, emerging varieties can be a “stumbling block” and Americans should not become complacent.
Driving the news: The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also shared his views on considering his own mortality, working with Biden, and talking to teachers about returning to school before everyone is vaccinated.
Fauci called it suffering and the death of recent months “staggering”, with January and December the worst months since the beginning. “The number of cases was between 300,000 and 400,000 per day,” he said. “The number of deaths was between 3,000 and 4,000 per day.”
- While “things are moving in the right direction … we will also be challenged by the appearance of variants or mutants that have appeared, some of which have a functional impact on how we will respond to them,” he said. “Fortunately, others are well covered by the vaccine, but not all.”
- ‘You don’t want people to become complacent. We still have a long way to go … We may still have a stumbling block with the emergence of variants that would dominate the picture. ‘
The other side: Fauci, who has been vaccinated, expressed optimism that as more Americans get their doses, friends or family members who have both been vaccinated can finally reunite as they wish.
- “Can I bring my daughter from Boston, whom I haven’t seen in a long time?” he said. “Can I sit down and have dinner with her without worrying about spreading infection? Can I give her a big hug like I would like? I think the answer will probably be yes to that in the end, but I think we wait to see what the recommendations show. “
In conversation with teachers, Fauci said, “You have to understand them and empathize with them, that they are concerned about their own safety, so you can’t downplay that.”
- “You also have to fight for means to allow schools to open safely. So providing masks, good ventilation, good spacing between the seats, all those things together will get the schools open safely. “
- He said of his job of guiding all Americans, “It’s humiliating at times because you have to make a decision based on incomplete data.”
Fauci, 80, said he faced his fears that the virus could get him, especially during Donald Trump’s presidency.
- “I wasn’t fixated on that, but it was in the back of my mind because I had to be out there,” he said. “I mean, especially when I went to the White House every day, when the White House was kind of a super spreader location.”
- He said he is determined to tell any president hard truths, but doesn’t stress as much now because Biden is “ very attached to the concept of ‘scientific rules’ and you act on what the data and scientific evidence tells you to do. ”
It comes down to: Fauci said he is aware that he is a cultural icon to some, while others have threatened him and his family – but he is trying to block both and stay focused on the pandemic. “Right now, from a scientific standpoint, it is my responsibility to do what I can to end this.”