In an hour-long call with the National Press Club today, Dr. Anothony Fauci covered seven tenets of the current pandemic and how we can work towards a healthier future: epidemiology, virology, transmission, diagnostics, clinical course, therapeutics and vaccines. Dr. Fauci has been director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984; he is a scientist and chief medical adviser to President Biden,and has served multiple previous Administrations including former President Trump’s.
He also said because he is fully
vaccinated he would not be afraid to fly now, but only if he had to.
He does not recommend anyone fly strictly for pleasure now as we have plateaued at 60,000 cases a day, and with the numbers having inched up he greatly fears a fourth wave is imminent.
In conversation with National Press Club President Lisa Matthews, Fauci reiterated that the Covid-19 pandemic is the worst epidemic since the 1918 flu, which he cited as claiming 50- to 100 million lives globally. He stressed that we are far from out of the woods, and in fact are on a par with Brazil as leading the world in Covid cases. The three previous waves in the U.S. sprung in the spring of 2020, early summer 2020 and around Oct 10, in late autumn 2020. We are on the precipice of a fourth wave, with younger persons leading the way in new cases. And we are in a race - to try and outwit nature and this virus with our vaccines.
The Moderna, Pfizer/BionTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have all been approved by the FDA for emergency use authorization; AstraZeneca has applied for an EUA with the FDA. Both Sonofi and novavax, recominant protection and adjuvant vaccines, have the possibility of becoming authorized here. Sanofi is in Phase 2 clinical trials.
"It's the fourth surge that everyone is concerned about," Fauci said. "And this infectious disease is shining a great light on disparities - among
African Americans, Hispanics, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders, both in number of cases and in the severity of outcomes - [for example], which are the result of comorbities in many minority communities."
Dr. Fauci's great hope is that science will find a therapeutic that can be as effective against Covid-19 as drugs eventually were against HIV and Hepatitis C. The battle, though, is not just with the disease itself but with the niggling mutations that are found in numerous variants - some of great concern. The most pervasive variant, the so-called UK variant or "B117" - is the dominant strain of Covid in the U.S. presently, said the doctor. "The good news, though, is that it can be handled with the current vaccines." He has more concern about the South African and New York variants, in terms of diluting the effectiveness of vaccines, all of which is still being studied.
His overarching message was that society, in particular young people, think of their responsibility to others. "It may be a member of your family or your friends (who you are protecting)," he said, stressing the importance again of mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing. He is far less concerned about catching Covid from surfaces as he is from our fellow humans, as this is a respiratory virus "and we shouldn't get into obsessive
cleaning" such as on airplanes.
To listen to the entire call, click on the Press Club's Youtube channel later today, April 6 or tomorrow.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons Images, Dr. Fauci 1985, delivering an AIDS-related talk, NAIAD
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