Fauci uses final speech to urge booster shot uptake
Anthony S Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, who has served under seven presidents, used his valedictory at the White House podium yesterday to urge Americans to get updated coronavirus booster shots.
Fauci, 81, has announced he will leave government service next month, stepping down as President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he has led for 38 years.
Fauci appeared in the briefing room alongside White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Ashish Jha, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, as the Biden administration kicked off a six-week campaign to encourage Americans to get the updated shots.
‘‘My message and my final message – maybe the final message I give you from this podium – is that please, for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated Covid-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible to protect yourself, your family and your community,’’ he said.
Fauci became the face of the coronavirus pandemic response, drawing widespread praise and harsh criticism while he and his family received death threats. Some Republicans, most notably Senator Rand Paul, have called for Fauci’s firing, questioning the science behind vaccines, masks and other public health measures and pushing conspiracy claims about Fauci having a role in the origin of the coronavirus.
Jean-Pierre and Jha offered kind words for Fauci, who was reflective in answering reporters’ questions about the toll of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 6.6 million worldwide, including about 1.1 million confirmed deaths in the United States.
‘‘When I see people in this country – because of the divisiveness in our country – not getting vaccinated for reasons that have nothing to do with public health, but have to do because of divisiveness and ideological differences, as a physician, it pains me, because I don’t want to see anybody get infected,’’ he said yesterday. ‘‘I don’t want to see anybody hospitalised, and I don’t want to see anybody die from Covid. Whether you’re a far-right Republican or a far-left Democrat, it doesn’t make any difference to me.’’
At one point, Fauci acknowledged how those who wear masks are often singled out, joking with a reporter: ‘‘I mean, you’re absolutely right. I mean, I know sometimes when you walk in and you have a mask and nobody has a mask, you kind of feel guilty. You shouldn’t feel guilty. You look terrific, right?’’
–