US’s former longtime top public health official describes ‘terrifying’ disorientation from the virus
The US’s former longtime top public health official Anthony Fauci says his recent bout with West Nile virus “nearly took [him] down”.
In an opinion piece published Monday by the New York Times, Fauci explained how he likely contracted the virus – which spreads through mosquito bites – outside his home in Washington before he was hospitalized in August.
Continue reading...Former head of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease is expected to make a full recovery
Anthony Fauci is recovering at home from a West Nile virus infection, a spokesperson told news outlets on Saturday.
The former head of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease was hospitalized for six days with the virus. Fauci, 83, is expected to make a full recovery.
Continue reading...Former infectious disease head says big pharma tried to poach him while he was nation’s Covid chief
Before Anthony Fauci retired from his lengthy run as the US government’s top infectious disease doctor, major pharmaceutical companies tried to lure him away from his post by offering him seven-figure jobs – but he turned them down because he “cared about … the health of the country” too much, he says in a new interview.
Fauci’s comments on his loyalty to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niad) – which he directed for 38 years before retiring in December 2022 – come only a couple of weeks after he testified to Congress about receiving “credible death threats” from far-right extremists over his efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Continue reading...Doctor, who was head of infectious diseases unit during height of the pandemic, tells Congress he and his family still get harassed
Anthony Fauci, the former head of the US infectious diseases unit, has received “credible death threats” stemming from his time overseeing the nation’s fight against Covid-19, he has told Congress.
Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the height of attempts to halt the spread of the virus, told a hearing on Capitol Hill that the threats had continued until the present day, even though he retired in 2022.
Continue reading...America’s top health official, a cult figure for millions, has advised seven US presidents – but will he speak freely about Trump’s response to coronavirus?
Dr Anthony Fauci speaks to the Guardian via Zoom a couple of hours before his leaving do, marking the end of a 54-year career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
“That’s going to be done according to all public health guidelines,” America’s top public health official, wearing dark suit, blue shirt and blue-and-white polka dot tie, is quick to add. “People with masks and people online and people dialling in through Zoom, so it’s not going to be the classical party.”
Continue reading...Top disease expert warns against prematurely declaring victory over pandemic in interview with the Guardian
Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, has warned against prematurely declaring victory over the pandemic, not only due to short-term needs but because long Covid represents an “insidious” public health emergency for millions of people.
In an interview with the Guardian, Fauci urged the US Congress not to be complacent and to resume funding efforts to combat the virus, including the scourge of long Covid, which remains scientifically elusive but understood to hit women and people of colour especially hard.
Continue reading...Florida and New York go to the polls as Democrats seek to defend their congressional majority in November
In other Florida news, voters are casting primary ballots as Democrats look ahead to November, where they’ll mount a challenge to governor and potential Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Joan E Greve has the latest on what to expect from today’s polls:
Florida voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to determine which candidates will have the chance to face off in this November’s general election. Voters will cast ballots in races for the governorship and Congress, all the way down to circuit courts and local school boards.
Continue reading...Expert, 81, who has led National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, clashed with Trump over Covid response
Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci plans to step down from his post in December to “pursue the next chapter” of his career, he announced in a statement on Monday.
Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) since 1984. He has advised seven presidents, as far back as Ronald Reagan, on emerging infectious disease outbreaks that have plagued the nation, testifying before Congress and the World Health Organization on the HIV/Aids epidemic to Ebola to, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading...Kentucky senator who has clashed publicly with Dr Anthony Fauci champions lab leak theory in remarks at rally
The Kentucky senator Rand Paul promised on Saturday to wage a vigorous review into the origins of the coronavirus if Republicans retake the Senate and he lands a committee chairmanship.
Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally, the senator denounced what he sees as government overreach in response to Covid-19. He applauded a recent judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs.
Continue reading...‘It’s going to be a person’s decision about the individual risk,’ says president’s chief medical adviser after spate of positive tests in DC
A rash of coronavirus infections among elites in Washington that came close to Joe Biden shows a new reality facing Americans including the president, his chief medical adviser said: that life will involve daily decisions about individual risk from Covid.
“It’s going to be a person’s decision about the individual risk they’re going to take,” Dr Anthony Fauci told ABC’s This Week, adding that protocols protecting the president were “pretty strong”.
Continue reading...Biden’s chief medical adviser also says the US is ‘clearly going in the right direction’ on the pandemic
The US is likely to see an increase in Covid cases like that in Europe and the UK thanks to the BA.2 virus subvariant but not a dangerous surge, Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.
Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser also said the US was “clearly going in the right direction” on the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading...Wisconsin senator says if GOP retakes control it will use committees to move against Democrats and Biden
Hunter Biden and Anthony Fauci will be prime targets of Senate Republicans should the party win control in November, a senior senator said.
Asked by the Hill what he would want to investigate should he control a committee with subpoena power, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said: “Like everything? It’s like a mosquito in a nudist colony, it’s a target-rich environment.”
Continue reading...US authorities are confident most states will soon reach and pass a peak in coronavirus Omicron variant cases, even as hospitals struggle to cope with the current surge, Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said on Sunday.
“I think [we’re] as confident as you can be,” Anthony Fauci told ABC’s This Week. “You never want to be overconfident when you’re dealing with this virus, because it has certainly surprised us in the past.
Continue reading...Senator Rand Paul and Dr Anthony Fauci sparred at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. The top immunologist said the Republican senator's behaviour 'kindles the crazies' against him. Fauci testified on Tuesday at a hearing on the federal response to new Covid-19 variants. He blamed Paul's false accusations against him for threats he has received, citing an incident in December when police stopped a man allegedly traveling to the capital to 'kill Dr Fauci'. 'What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there and I have ... threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children,' Fauci said
Continue reading...Cases of Covid-19 will continue to surge worldwide due to the Omicron variant, the US chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said on Sunday, warning Americans not to get complacent amid reports that the variant is less harmful than others.
“If you have many, many, many more people with a less level of severity,” Fauci told ABC’s This Week, “that might kind of neutralise the positive effect of having less severity.
Continue reading...The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has “extraordinary spreading capabilities”, the top US infectious diseases expert said on Sunday, and promises to bring a bleak winter as it continues “raging through the world”.
Dr Anthony Fauci’s warning came ahead of the busy holiday travel period, which he said would elevate the risk of infection even in vaccinated people.
Continue reading...Leading infectious diseases official warns Omicron variant appears to be able to ‘evade’ protection of two initial doses
The US government’s leading infectious diseases official, Anthony Fauci, on Sunday stepped up calls for Americans to get a Covid-19 booster shot, as the US is approaching 800,000 lives lost to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Fauci warned that the Omicron variant appeared to be able to “evade” the protection of two initial doses of the mRNA-type Covid vaccines – Pfizer/BioNTech’s and Moderna’s – as well as post-infection therapies such as monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma.
Continue reading...Analysis: after he promised to crush the coronavirus, the rise of a new strain could be a blow to perceptions of his competency
Joe Biden looked out at an audience of government scientists last week and recognized a mask-wearing Anthony Fauci, his top adviser on the coronavirus. “I’ve seen more of Dr Fauci than my wife,” he joked. “Who’s president? Fauci!”
The US president was visiting the frontline of the Covid-19 struggle, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where he unveiled a winter plan that includes a drive for vaccine boosters, free at-home testing and fresh requirements for international travelers.
Continue reading...The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the US has been identified in California. In a White House news briefing, Anthony Fauci, the director of the national institute of allergies and infectious diseases and chief medical adviser to the US president, said the case was in an individual who had travelled from South Africa on 22 November and tested positive for Covid on 29 November. 'We knew it was just a matter of time,' he said
Continue reading...Lara Logan compares top US infectious diseases expert to Dr Josef Mengele who experimented on Jews in concentration camps
A Fox News commentator stoked outrage by comparing Dr Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, to Josef Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death”.
Lara Logan, a host on the Fox Nation streaming service, was discussing Omicron on Fox News Prime Time on Monday night, amid fears that the new variant will trigger a new wave of Covid cases and further deepen political divisions over how to respond. Fox News has consistently broadcast misinformation about Covid and measures to contain it.
Continue reading...