Fauci cancels his own family Christmas to set an example
AMERICA’S top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, and his wife will spend the festive season away from their three adult daughters rather than risk spreading coronavirus.
The separation will mean that the Fauci clan will also be apart on his 80th birthday on Christmas Eve.
“This cannot be business as usual this Christmas because we’re already in a very difficult situation, and we’re going to make it worse, if we don’t do something about it,” he told The Washington Post.
It will be the first Christmas the family has been separated since his daughters were born.
“That’s painful. We don’t like that. But that’s just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented, challenging time.”
Dr Fauci urged Americans to follow his example as Covid-19 cases topped 17 million in the US, with many experts blaming the surge on family gatherings for November’s Thanksgiving holiday.
“This is an unusual situation, it’s not going to last forever. It is highly likely that with vaccines being distributed, we will be back to normal by next Christmas,” he added.
Dr Fauci’s plea came with the US Food and Drug Administration on the cusp of approving a second vaccine.
FDA experts met yesterday to consider a jab produced by Moderna which was shown to be 94-95 per cent effective in clinical trials. Recommending its approval, they said the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks, paving the way for the US to become the first country to approve the Moderna vaccine.
Moderna says it expects to have enough doses to inoculate 10 million people by the end of the year.
The Pfizer-biontech vaccine was approved in the US last Friday and millions of doses are expected to have been delivered by the weekend.
While polls show growing confidence in the vaccine, there are fears that the pace of inoculation could be slowed by individuals reluctant to have a jab.
Vice-president Mike Pence and his wife Karen will be vaccinated on television today alongside surgeon general Jerome Adams. President- elect Joe Biden will be vaccinated next week.