Marin vaccination advocate meets Fauci on DC trip

The face of childhood vaccination in Marin and the nation's top infectious disease expert came together this month to talk about Marin's success in inoculating its residents against COVID-19.

Rhett Krawitt, 14, was preparing for a class trip to Washington, D.C., this month when his father received a call inviting the Corte Madera teen to meet Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The eighth-grader, who was unable to be vaccinated as a child with leukemia, was singled out for his role encouraging childhood vaccination countywide since 2015, when Marin's compliance was among the lowest in the state, but particularly during the pandemic, his father Carl Krawitt said.

About 95% of Marin residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with 92.4% of those eligible having completed the series of shots.

Rhett has spoken out about the importance of child vaccines for years, and planned to highlight the approach of Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County's public health officer, to COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Krawitt said he'd asked friends connected to Fauci if there was a chance his son could meet the presidential adviser, but was surprised to get a call.

The pair met April 5 and discussed advocacy work being done to promote vaccines and the importance of increasing vaccination rates. The meeting ended with Fauci “congratulating Rhett on the work that he's done,” Carl Krawitt said.

“It made me proud of what I've done and that somebody that important wanted to meet with me,” Rhett said.

“It was a really cool experience to meet him. He knew how Marin County had gone from the place where not a lot of people were vaccinated to one of the most vaccinated counties in the nation. And he congratulated our work and advocacy on that here in Marin to achieve that higher level of vaccination.”

Rhett said Willis helped him prepare, providing him with current data about Marin, “so if we brought up numbers and stuff, we'd be able to give the right numbers.”

Krawitt said the two also discussed the importance of advocacy during a period when vaccines are highly politicized, provoking backlash and threats from opponents.

“Misinformation and disinformation are really hurting the ability of people to trust science and facts, and understand facts,” Krawitt said.

He said he has conversations about this with Rhett all the time.

“Rhett put his human face on it and really showed the community that, hey, there are people among us who are impacted,” he said. “And we're really thankful the community really rallied around with understanding.”

Willis said he is proud of Rhett for being recognized by

Fauci and described the teen as helping influence “an understanding of the community responsibility around vaccination, and that when we choose to be vaccinated it's not only for ourselves, it's

for our community.”

“Rhett really told that story in a way that we couldn't in any other way with data, because he lived that and shared that story with us,” Willis said.

Willis said the Krawitt family has been “invaluable in our vaccine efforts.”

“Rhett stepped forward as an elementary school student

to share the fact that as a child with leukemia who couldn't get vaccinated, he was at risk,” he said.

“I don't think our vaccination rates would be as high as they are without that story, without that understanding of the community benefits. I think his particular contribution was really helping us understand the

community benefit of vaccination, and that the vaccine is an act of community responsibility and not just personal choice.”

Said Rhett: “Hopefully other communities around the whole nation are able to make higher vaccination numbers … and do what we did in Marin to turn the tide.”