President Biden’s chief medical adviser, dr. Anthony Fauci, tells Axios on HBO that despite the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, emerging variants can form an “obstacle” and Americans should not become complacent.
Send the news: The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also shared his thoughts on considering his own mortality rate, along with Biden and the conversation with teachers about returning to school before everyone was vaccinated.
Fauci mentioned the suffering and the deaths of recent months ‘astonishing’, with January and December the worst months since the beginning. “The number of cases was between 300,000 and 400,000 a day,” he said. “The number of deaths was between 3,000 and 4,000 a day.”
- While “things are going 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 are going to respond to them,” he said. said. “Fortunately, other things are covered by the vaccine, but not all.”
- “You do not want people to become complacent. We still have a long way to go … We may still have an obstacle with the appearance of variants that will dominate the picture.”
The other side: Fauci, who has been vaccinated, has expressed optimism that as more Americans receive their doses, friends or family members who have both been vaccinated may eventually reunite as they please.
- “Can I have my daughter come down from Boston, which I have not seen in a very long time?” he said. “Can I sit down and have a meal with her without worrying about spreading infection? Can I give her a big hug the way I want? I think the answer will probably be yes, but I think wait to to see what the recommendations show. ‘
In conversation with teachers, Fauci said: “You have to understand and empathize with them a lot, that they worry about their own safety, so that you can not diminish it.”
- ‘You also have to fight for resources to keep the schools open safely. So, the provision of masks, good ventilation, good seating distance and all those things are going to make the schools open safely. “
- He says of his task of guiding all Americans: “Sometimes it is humble because you have to make a decision based on incomplete data.”
Fauci, 80, said he was facing fear that the virus could get him especially during Donald Trump’s presidency.
- “I did not decide on it, but it was in the back of my mind because I had to be out there,” he said. “I mean, especially if I were to go to the White House every day if the White House was some kind of super-distributor.”
- He said he was committed to telling any president hard truths, but did not emphasize it much now because Biden ‘is very attached to the concept of’ scientific rules’ and you act on the basis of what the data and the scientific evidence tell you. do. ‘
The conclusion: Fauci said he was aware that for some he was a cultural icon, while others threatened threats against him and his family. “At the moment, my scientific responsibility is to do everything in my power to end it.”