WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 29, 2022 – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), chief medical advisor to President Biden and renowned physician-scientist who specializes in immunology, has recently come down with COVID-19 for the first time. He has served 6 presidents and has been involved with leading the government response to many pandemics from AIDS in the 1980’s to the ongoing COVID-19 infectious disease. Dr. Fauci has become a trusted source of information about accepted public health practices, vaccination and treatments in order to reduce virus transmission, severe illness and fatalities. He has appeared on television and the internet and much has been written about his recommendations.
“Each of us, in our own personal way, has to make an assessment of what risk you’re willing to accept about getting infected,” Fauci told CNN in April. “In general, the risk is low, but I made a personal assessment. I’m 81 years old, and if I get infected, I have a much higher risk.” He is up-to-date with his vaccination status including having had a primary vaccination series plus two boosters. Dr. Fauci famously avoided the White House Correspondents dinner, a large indoor event, in April because dozens of people got COVID after the Gridiron dinner, which he attended earlier in the month. Therefore, it would be helpful to know how a careful person like Dr. Fauci was unable to avoid getting COVID-19.
According to the NIAID, Dr. Fauci had mild Covid symptoms and a positive rapid antigen test on June 15th. Four days earlier, on June 11th, he attended his 60th college reunion at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and was seen with and without a mask in photos. On June 12th, the next day, he had a seven-hour interview at his home with a reporter from the Washington Post who had gotten sick with Covid two weeks earlier. The reporter tested negative three days in a row prior to the interview and wore a mask throughout the meeting, both indoors and outdoors. Except for an inadvertent handshake, there were no other breaches in public health etiquette during the interview.
According to ABC News, the college reunion was mentioned as a possible source because two others who attended the gathering tested positive. He has been treated with the antiviral treatment Paxlovid. However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Dr. Fauci. After completing a 5-day course and testing negative for three consecutive days, he tested positive on the fourth day. The next day the symptoms returned, worse than the first time. This has been identified as the “Paxlovid rebound.” According to a May 24, 2022 advisory, the CDC says that there is no evidence that any additional treatment is indicated for the rebound phenomena, but Dr. Fauci is on his second course of Paxlovid. Therefore, some people speculate that this might be part of a new research study.
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Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]
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