He has been praised as a "national treasure." He wears the title of America's doctor. His popularity ranks highest among government figures, including the president. His words carry more weight than any global health expert. However, most Americans know little about the grandfatherly Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Dr. Fauci has been anointed the nation's "top infectious disease expert" by an adoring media. He is a Presidential Medal of Honor recipient and one of the most cited living researchers, according to Google. He holds the American Association of Immunologist Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Fauci earned his medical degree from Cornell in 1966. He started his career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1968. In 1984, he ascended to head the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services.
That means Dr. Fauci is a 52-year career federal government employee. That is not a knock on the doctor, just a fact. He is an immunologist, a speciality that treats health issues brought on by immune system problems. Epidemiologists focus on epidemics and other health-related diseases.
Dr. Fauci, despite his spry demeanor, is 80-years old. He earns more than the president. He is the government's top paid official with an annual salary of $417,608 in 2019. The president makes $400,000. Federal executive-level employees salaries are generally capped at $172,500.
For all his credentials, Dr. Fauci has been less than a straight shooter with the American public on the Coronavirus. The Brooklyn native has admitted publicly withholding information from Americans, moving the goalposts on herd immunity and obfuscating when the situation called for clarity.
His Coronavirus public advice began last year on January 21, when he told Americans they did not need to worry about the virus coming to our shores. Less than a month later on February 8, America's COVID expert down-played the danger of the virus, labeling the chances of infection as very small.
The same month on the 29th, Dr. Fauci appeared on the Today Show and assured American there was "no need" to change their behavior as the pandemic spread. His streak continued on March 9 when he recommended taking a cruise, telling Forbes Magazine if "you're healthy, cruise ships are safe."
For Fauci-defenders, this may sound like Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Very little was known about the virus and the doctor was basing his counsel on the best available data, his protectors argue. But that's the point. There was virtually no scientific data or research on the novel COVID 19.
Didn't Dr. Fauci have a responsibility as the COVID Czar to caution Americans that his advice was predicated on precious little scientific evidence? No political figure could have escaped media scorn for treating public health pronouncements so callously. Exactness matters during widespread panic.
However, it is not only sacrilegious to critique Dr. Fauci but social media platforms will censor you for questioning any of his Coronavirus health advisories. No fair person can defend his reluctance to admit publicly he was wrong or that scientists were befuddled, especially early in the pandemic.
Perhaps, his most ignominious pronouncement came in March on the television show "60 Minutes" when he uttered the following:
"Right now, in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks," he said. "There no reason to be walking around with a mask." He went on to reiterate that masks should largely be reserved for health care providers.
In April, Dr. Fauci pivoted, advising Americans to don masks. His change of direction sounded contradictory to average Americans. In his defense, the actual scientific evidence about the protection offered by cloth masks for COVID was nonexistent. But he obviously believed masks were needed.
Months later on July 16, Dr. Fauci in an interview with CBS News defended his earlier decision, surprisingly admitting he doesn't regret his counsel against wearing masks. His defense exposed his lack of faith in the intelligence of Americans. This elitist approach continued throughout the pandemic.
"I don't regret anything I said then because in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct. We were told in our task force meeting that we had a serious problem with lack of PPE's (Personal Protective Equipment) and masks for health providers who were putting themselves in harm's way every day to take care of sick people," he told news anchor Norah O'Donnell.
A fair interpretation of his remarks clearly shows Dr. Fauci purposefully avoided telling people to wear masks because he feared Americans would run out and purchase the products making it more difficult for health workers to obtain masks. Why not just say that? Speak the truth.
A few scientists had the temerity to suggest perhaps Dr. Fauci should have been more forthcoming, including UC San Francisco epidemiologist George Rutherford. He chided the doctor's concern for nuanced messaging when he should have been warning Americans to don masks.
"We should have told people to wear cloth masks right off the bat," he said. Chances are you have never read this is your legacy media.
An example of Dr. Fauci's penchant for moving the goalposts arose during the pandemic when he cited an estimate of 60-to-70 estimate of herd immunity as the measurement desired for the country returning to "normal." Then this March, he shifted to 70-to-75%. Days later the estimate flipped to 75-to-80%.
In a telephone interview. Dr. Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly but deliberately been shifting the goalposts. He said it was partly based on new science and "partly on his gut feeling" that the country is finally ready to have access to what he really believes is the ideal herd immunity figure.
The immunologist clarified that he hesitated to publicly raise his herd estimate because Americans seemed reluctant about getting vaccinated. Wide adoption of vaccines were required in order for the country to achieve herd immunity. How does fudging on herd immunity encourage vaccinations?
Herd immunity may never be obtained, if national polling can be believed. A Gallup survey in December found 42% of Americans do not want to be vaccinated. As of March 25, just 13.8% of Americans were fully vaccinated, making herd immunity a faint possibility by end of year.
In the latest epidemiological dust-up, Sen. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist, challenged some of Dr. Fauci's assertions about masks and vaccine immunity during a Senate Committee hearing on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions recently.
The Kentucky senator bore in on Dr. Fauci's insistence that those fully vaccinated must continue to wear masks. Paul cited statistics that out of nearly 30 million Americans vaccinated, there were only five confirmed cases of re-infection. He demanded to know what was the science behind the mask mandate.
Dr. Fauci answered the masks were "protective." Paul pressed for scientific studies showing that those vaccinated needed to continue to wear masks. Dr. Fauci could produce no science to prove masks should be worn after vaccination.
Before the hearing, Dr. Fauci was photographed wearing two masks. He told the media two masks were better than one for protection. Based on what scientific evidence? Name a study? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has made no such public recommendation.
If two masks are better, what about three or four? Show us the science.
Asked how long Americans needed to mask up, Dr. Fauci has vacillated. In interviews he predicted a return to normality by summer, an indication masks might not be required. Now he is equivocating. His advice in an interview on CNN on February 21 when asked if masks would be required in 2022:
"You know, I think it is possible that that's the case, and again, it really depends on what you mean by normality," he answered. Wearing a mask is not normal for Americans. Normality, for most, is freedom of movement, association and no masks. That was life pre-pandemic.
As with so many of his pronouncements, this just adds to people's confusion. Worse, it erodes public confidence in health advice, making Americans leery about following his directives. No surprise that a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found trust in Dr. Fauci and the CDC is rapidly declining.
It begs the question: When you demand that people follow science, whose science should they embrace? Throughout the pandemic, some of the world's brightest and best epidemiologists have presented findings shining new light on the virus thus rendering past advice and knowledge obsolete.
In these cases, who is right? Who decides the science?
Scientists need to admit when new evidence contradicts their previous advice and fully explain it to the public. No one expects scientists to be 100% right 100% of the time. Just own up to the obvious. That will increase credibility instead of corroding it in the eyes of the public.
For those ready to crucify anyone who critiques Dr. Fauci, let's add this disclaimer. He had the weight of a novel Coronavirus on his shoulders and did his very best to steer the country through the pandemic safely. Let's stipulate no one could have done it better, certainly not this writer.
That still does not absolve Dr. Fauci of his responsibility to speak plainly to the American public. Every crisis demands transparency and the truth, even if it unsettles people. Americans are supportive when they believe they are getting straight answers. You shouldn't treat Americans as nincompoops.
When you do that, you should not be surprised when Americans either ignore or give less credence to your health mandates.
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