Dr. Anthony Fauci, the American epidemiologist who has been both loved and hated as the face of the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic, used his latest briefing at the White House this Tuesday to denounce the divisions in society. to the Reuters bureau.
Fauci, who plans to retire soon as President Joe Biden’s top medical advisor and America’s top infectious disease expert, has dealt with serious health crises for decades, from HIV/AIDS to avian flu or Ebola.
But it was his handling of COVID — with his scathing assessments, from the White House podium, that Americans needed to change their ways in the face of the pandemic — that made him a hero to public health advocates as he advised his former President Donald Trump, and at the same time a villain for right-wing Republicans, including many Covid-19 and vaccine deniers. Otherwise, Fauci was regularly threatened with death.
True to his usual style, Fauci used his latest press conference at the White House to strongly encourage Americans to take booster shots against Covid-19, and praised the effectiveness of masks, which are one of the divisive factors in the U.S. have become.
The United States leads the world in recorded deaths from Covid-19, with more than one million.
“When I see people die or refuse vaccinations in this country because of political divisions, it hurts me,” said Fauci, quoted by Reuters. “I don’t want anyone to be hospitalized and I don’t want anyone to die from Covid. Whether they are a far-right Republican or a far-left Democrat.”
Fauci will retire in December after 54 years of public service. The 81-year-old doctor has been leading the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, since 1984.
The veteran immunologist has served as an adviser to seven US presidents, starting with Republican Ronald Reagan. According to broadcaster C-SPAN, he made his first appearance at a White House press conference in 2001.
In the early months of the 2020 pandemic, Fauci helped lead scientific efforts to develop and test Covid-19 vaccines in record time. However, Fauci angered Trump and many Republicans for warning against reopening the U.S. economy too quickly and risking more infections, and for opposing the use of unproven or ineffective treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, promoted by some to the right side.
Democrats accused Trump of presiding over an incoherent response to the pandemic and ignoring the advice of public health experts, including Fauci. Trump called Fauci “a disaster” in October 2020, weeks before his re-election loss, claiming that Americans were tired of the news about the pandemic.
Republican lawmakers, including fiercely critical Senator Rand Paul, with whom Fauci interacted during Senate hearings, have pledged to investigate Fauci’s behavior during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, Fauci said he would “fully cooperate” with any congressional oversight hearings launched by Republicans next year when they take control of the House of Representatives after last November’s midterm elections.
Source: DN
