Anthony Fauci
Doctor, who was head of infectious diseases unit during height of the pandemic, tells Congress he and his family still get harassed
Anthony Fauci, the former head of the US infectious diseases unit, has received credible death threats stemming from his time overseeing the nations fight against Covid-19, he has told Congress.
Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the height of attempts to halt the spread of the virus, told a hearing on Capitol Hill that the threats had continued until the present day, even though he retired in 2022.
He told a subcommittee of the House of Representatives oversight and accountability committee that they also included his wife and three daughters and meant he needed round-the-clock security protection.
There have been everything from harassments by emails, texts, letters to myself, my wife, my three daughters. There have been credible death threats, leading to the arrests of two individuals, Fauci said.
Credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me, and its required my having protective services essentially all the time. It is very troublesome to me. It is much more troublesome because theyve involved my wife and my three daughters at these moments.
Asked by the Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan how he felt, Fauci, 83, seemed to visibly tremble with emotion before answering: Terrible.
When Dingell asked if he was still receiving threats, he replied: Yes, I do every time someone gets up and says, Im responsible for the death of people throughout the world, the threats go up.
Fauci was defended by Robert Garcia, a Democratic congressman from California, after he came under attack from Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand far-right Georgia Republican, who refused to acknowledge his professional status as a doctor and assailed the pandemic measures he had advocated, such as masking and social distancing.
Do the American people deserve to be abused like that, Mr Fauci, because youre not a doctor, youre Mr Fauci, Taylor Greene said, before being interrupted on a point of order and told she had to refer to Fauci as a doctor.
Garcia apologised to Fauci about the questioning from Taylor Greene and other Republicans, saying: I am so sorry you just had to sit through that. That was completely irresponsible. This might be the most insane hearing Ive actually attended.
Garcia described Fauci who said in his opening statement that he wanted to address information and disinformation during the pandemic as an American hero.
Your team has done more to save lives than all 435 members of this body on both sides of the aisle, he said.
Posting on Twitter/X, Garcia, who told the hearing that both his parents had died in the pandemic, called Taylor Greene a national embarrassment.
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Dr. Antony Fauci (pictured 2022) appeared before a U.S. House committee Monday, during which he received intense grilling from Republicans. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to the president of United States, (pictured 2022) was the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2022. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing in 2022. On Monday in D.C., Fauci said the United States needs to better prepare for another pandemic. "I am still disappointed" about current plans, he said. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
June 3 (UPI) -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the federal handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, appeared before a U.S. House committee Monday, during which he received intense grilling from Republicans, including a member who refused to call him doctor.
Fauci was the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2022 after serving from 1984, including under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. He also was their top medical adviser.
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During the hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic response and the origins of the virus, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., refused to address Fauci as a doctor when questioning him about COVID-era rules and how much he has earned from pharmaceutical companies.
"Do you think that's appropriate? Do the American people deserve to be abused like that, Mr. Fauci?" Greene asked Fauci. "Because you're not a doctor, you're Mr. Fauci in my few minutes."
As he was about to answer, Greene said: "I don't need your answer."
Democratic members of the subcommittee issued "points of order" based on Greene's statements.
Greene said that Fauci "does not deserve to have a license."
And, she said: "You know what this committee should be doing? We should be recommending you to be prosecuted. We should be writing a criminal referral because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. You belong in prison, Dr. Fauci."
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, reprimanded Greene for refusing to recognize Fauci as a doctor.
Fauci faced other grilling from Republicans as Democrats defended his work as a scientist. During the event, House members mostly made statements and didn't offer much of an opportunity for Fauci to testify.
In January, Fauci appeared for 14 hours behind closed doors. Transcripts were released Monday.
On Monday, the House panel revealed emails that some Republicans believe were made by an NIH staffer regarding evading public records laws, including by not discussing controversial issues on government email.
In opening remarks, Fauci said, "To the best of my knowledge, I have never conducted official business via my personal email."
A U.S. intelligence analysis says there's insufficient evidence to prove the virus emerged at a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, or in a lab.
Fauci has maintained he was open to both stances.
"I have repeatedly stated that I have a completely open mind to either possibility and that if definitive evidence becomes available to validate or refute either theory, I will ready accept it," he said in an opening statement.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked about the NIAID grant awarded to a Chinese lab.
"Does that have anything to do with that downplaying of the lab leak theory?" Jordan said.
"No, nothing," Fauci said.
"Do you agree that there was a push to downplay the lab leak theory?" Jordan replied.
"Not on my part," Fauci said.
"Really?" Rep. Jordan asked. "I think most of the country would find that amazing."
Fauci said the United States needs to better prepare for another pandemic. "I am still disappointed" about plans, he said.
Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who served as the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management early in the pandemic, said states weren't prepared.
Fauci agreed.
"I think one of the things that was really a problem with the response was the degree of divisiveness that we had in the country about a lack of a coherent response where we were having people, for reasons that had nothing to do with public health or science, refusing to adhere to public health intervention measures," Fauci said.
Moskowitz then described the divisiveness.
"Dr. Fauci, you talked about how, you know, we live in partisan times, a lot of misinformation. And you know, colleagues in this body said, you know, you should be charged and found guilty. Of course, the only one that that's happened to is your former boss," Moskowitz said. "But, you know, the question I have is when you saw a lot of that disinformation, whether it was, you know, we can use a disinfectant to do, like a cleaning or do light in the body or that, you know, China's working super hard. President Xi has got it contained. All of this stuff that was being put out. Were you concerned? You know, what was your feeling at that time? Working in the administration, seeing that come from the podium?"
Fauci replied: "Well, I was very frustrated by that. It was very clear I was put in a very difficult position that I didn't like of having to contradict publicly the president of the United States. I took no great pleasure in that, but I felt it was my responsibility to tell the truth."
Fauci said he received threats.
"Everything from harassments from emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters," Fauci said. "There have been credible death threats leading to the arrest of two individuals -- and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it's required my having protective services essentially all the time."
"It was my responsibility to tell the truth."
Ranking member Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., thanked Fauci for his testimony and for his decades of service to the nation in dealing with epidemics and pandemics.
"Over the past four years you have been personally targeted by extreme narratives of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. government's response to it," Ruiz said. "These extreme narratives have been the bedrock of this subcommittees Republican-led probe and have been undermined by what's been found through interviews and by thousands of documents that have been reviewed."
Wenstrup, the committee chairman talked about moving forward.
"I think what I'm most concerned about as we go forward as a country and from our agencies is that we an be trusted and that we are better in our messaging and talk about clarity," Wenstrup said.
Ameta-analysis of nine observational studies published late last week in the Journal of Infection shows that early use of oral antiviral drugs reduced the risk of long COVID, or post-COVID condition (PCC), by 23%, and Paxlovid may perform better than molnupiravir.
In total the nine studies included 866,066 patients, in which Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, or MMV-r) and molnupiravir were evaluated in eight and two studies, respectively.
While antivirals have been approved to use in the acute phase of illness to prevent progression to severe disease in at-risk populations, the potential use of the drugs as a way to prevent long COVID has drawn recent attention.
In the study, the patients were not hospitalized, and early use was defined as within 5 days of COVID-19 diagnosis for most studies and within 30 days of symptom onset in one study, and it was not mentioned in two studies.
Studies defined long COVID differently, with five measuring PCC outcomes as symptoms 30 days after diagnosis, and four defining the condition as symptoms persisting 90 days after diagnosis.
Overall early oral antiviral drugs reduced long-COVID risk 23% (risk ratio [RR] 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 0.88), regardless of age or sex.
Paxlovid and molnupiravir subgroups had RRs of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.65 to 0.88) and 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82 to 0.94), respectivelyreductions of 24% and 12%compared to no antiviral drug treatment.
"Our mixed evidence comparing two oral antiviral drugs using a network meta-analysis suggests a possible benefit of NMV-r over molnupiravir in reducing PCC risk," the authors wrote.
Long COVID has emerged as a major feature of the COVID-19 landscape, with incidence rates estimated to be 10% to 30% and 50% to 70% among non-hospitalized and hospitalized patients with COVID-19 worldwide, the authors said.
The findings suggest that a broader use of antivirals may be considered to prevent long COVID. Current World Health Organization guidelines strongly recommend Paxlovid in patients at a moderate to high risk of hospitalization, or molnupiravir or remdesivir if Paxlovid is not available.
Though the protective mechanisms are not fully understood, the authors said lowering the rate of viral replication in patients likely plays a role in the antivirals' ability to lower the risk of long COVID. The condition is strongly associated with severe disease and hospitalization, and antivirals limit viral progression, they said.
Our study underscores the importance of timely antiviral intervention in mitigating the long-term repercussions of COVID-19.
"Our study underscores the importance of timely antiviral intervention in mitigating the long-term repercussions of COVID-19," the authors wrote.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic, testified Monday before a Republican-led House panel investigating the origins of coronavirus and the federal government's response. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion reports from Capitol Hill.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the architects behind the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic, found himself in the spotlight again Monday, distancing himself from the social distancing requirement and denying that he influenced research on the origins of the virus.
Fauci appeared before a House committee on Monday and was met with both praise and criticism from lawmakers. Lawmakers asked him about COVID-19-era policies from when he was a key player in the pandemic response.
Ahead of the hearing, lawmakers expressed concern over alleged misconduct of one of Faucis former advisers.
In a memo published in late May, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released an email from David Morens, former senior adviser to Fauci when he was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The email said, PS, i forgot to say there is no worry about FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act). I can either send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.
Fauci referenced the memo containing this email in his opening statement and said, Let me state for the record that to the best of my knowledge I have never conducted official business via my personal email.
Heres a closer look at what else Fauci said during the hearing.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked him if there was a push to downplay the lab leak theory. Fauci denied he tried to influence the discussion around the origins of the pandemic.
Studies have been published suggesting the virus originated from animals then spread to humans in China, while other reports show studies that say the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab. Fauci said Monday hes always kept an open mind on the origin.
Fauci said he had a conference call with around a dozen virologists from across the world to discuss whether the virus originated from animals then spread to humans, or if the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab.
Then, Fauci said, it was decided that several participants would more carefully examine the genomic sequence after this further examination. He said researchers published their papers in peer-reviewed journals.
The accusation being circulated that I influenced the scientists to change their minds by bribing them with millions of dollars in grant money is absolutely false and simply preposterous, said Fauci adding he had no input into a paper published in 2020 that discussed the virus origins.
During his testimony, Fauci also said he didnt try to cover up the theory that the virus came from a lab.
I cannot account nor can anyone account for other things that might be going on in China, which is the reason why I have always said and will say now, I keep an open mind as to what the origin is, said Fauci.
During the hearing, lawmakers asked Fauci about COVID-19 regulations and policies involving masks, vaccines and social distancing. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, asked Fauci about mask mandates for children under 5 years old.
There was no study that did masks on kids before. You couldnt do the study, said Fauci. You had to respond to an epidemic that was killing four to five thousand Americans a day.
Fauci said the 6-foot distancing rule came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and there was no controlled trial behind the recommendation.
The CDC was responsible for those kinds of guidelines for schools, not me, said Fauci. What I believe the CDC used for their reason to say 6 feet is that studies years ago showed that when youre dealing with droplets, which at the time that the CDC made that recommendation, it was felt that the transmission was primarily through droplet, not aerosol, which is incorrect because we know now aerosol does play a role.
When asked about whether or not he challenged the CDC on this recommendation, Fauci said it wouldnt be appropriate to publicly challenge the organization.
In addition to saying he wasnt responsible for the the social distancing regulation, Fauci defended closures of schools, businesses and churches by saying they were attempting to stop the tsunami of deaths that was occurring.
How long you kept them going is debatable, said Fauci.
As to whether or not vaccines prevented the spread of the virus, Fauci described the issue as complicated. Because in the beginning, the first iteration of the vaccines did have an effect, not 100%, not a high effect, he said. They did prevent infection and subsequently obviously transmission.
Fauci said at the onset officials did not know that the durability of protection was limited with respect to infection and transmission. Whereas the duration of protection against severe disease, hospitalization and deaths was more prolonged, he said. We did not know that in the beginning.
Dr. Ashish Jha says the U.S. is seeing typically two COVID waves a year. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
As much as we would all love to ignore COVID, a new set of variants that scientists call FLiRT is here to remind us that the virus is still with us.
The good news: as of last Friday, the CDC says that the amount of respiratory illness in the U.S. is low.
The not-so-great news: the U.S. has often flirted with summer COVID waves because of travel and air-conditioned gatherings.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former White House COVID-19 response coordinator, returned to All Things Considered to speak with host Ailsa Chang about what the new variants could bring.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Ailsa Chang: So how concerned would you say scientists are about whether these FLiRT variants come with increased transmissibility or increased disease severity, compared to previous variants?
Ashish Jha: We're seeing exactly what we have expected: The virus continues to evolve to try to escape the wall of immunity we have built up through vaccines and infections. Is this more transmissible? It is. That's why it has become more dominant. But the really important question is, is it going to get people to become more sick than previous versions? And all the evidence right now we have is no. If you have been vaccinated, or you had previous infections or youre one of the majority of Americans who have had both you are likely to have a mild infection and not get particularly sick. Obviously, we have to continue monitoring every new variant, but this is pretty expected.
Chang: Do you expect some sort of summer surge is on the way? And if so, do you have any advice for people who don't want COVID to disrupt their summer plans, even if they get a mild infection?
Jha: Every summer since the beginning of this pandemic, we have seen a summer wave. And therefore, my expectation is we probably will get a summer wave. We spend a lot more time indoors in the summer especially in the South, where it gets very hot so we tend to see those waves to be a bit bigger down in the southern parts of the country. When I think about who's at risk of having complications from these infections, it's older Americans. It's immunocompromised Americans. For them, the two big things are: first, making sure they're up to date on their vaccines. Second, if they do get an infection, we have widely available treatments. Obviously, if you're worried about getting infected at all, avoid crowded indoor spaces. You can wear a mask. Those things still work.
Chang: We've now had four and a half years to observe this virus as it has spread. I'm wondering what are some key patterns that you have seen over that time?
Jha: We are seeing pretty typically about two waves a year: one in the summer, one in the winter, all caused by ongoing evolution of the virus. We're seeing the people who are landing in the hospital. There's still a lot of people getting very sick from this. The other thing that's worth thinking about is there's always a chance that this virus could evolve in some very substantial way, so that it could really cause more disruption and more illness. We've got to continue monitoring and paying attention to that. I don't expect that to happen. But if it does, we've got to be ready.
Chang: In the long run do you think we'll be treating COVID much like we treat other seasonal respiratory illnesses? Like, there will be a new vaccine formulation every fall for expected seasonal surges and this is just what we are going to have to live with for the rest of time?
Jha: Yeah. The way I have thought about this is every year I go and get my flu shot. We have a new formulation. I will probably continue doing that for COVID. So I'm going to have flu and COVID shots. And at some point as I get older, I will probably need an RSV shot every year as well. It's inconvenient. It can be a little bit annoying. But the bottom line is these are life-saving things and people should be doing them.
[co-author: Gabriela Garcia-Bou*]
On May 16, 2024, the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (the Subcommittee) announced that it advanced the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 (H.R. 7623) as amended (the Bill) during a markup session. The Bill is meant to extend a number of telehealth flexibilities under Medicare through 2026. This corresponded with 22 other bills advanced by the Subcommittee to strengthen access to healthcare.
The Bill largely seeks to continue Medicares hospital-at-home program through 2029, which provides resources for at-home care for patients who need acute-level care. The Bill would also eliminate the geographic originating site restrictions on telehealth visits through 2026. Absent these changes, the programs will expire at the end of 2024.
Significantly, the Bill also would empower the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand the categories of practitioners that may furnish reimbursable telehealth services. This would potentially allow for any healthcare professional who bills the Medicare program to be eligible to offer telehealth services. The Bill would further enable the Secretary to maintain an expanded list of eligible telehealth services, even after the existing laws emergency period expires.
The Bill specifically benefits patients located in a rural location by explicitly allowing additional resources to be allocated to rural health clinics providing telehealth services. For example, the Bill would make permanent the ability of Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics to provide telehealth services and provide reimbursements in those settings. This is crucial because Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics are critical safety-net providers of primary care for underserved populations. Permitting these types of health centers to provide telehealth services as distant sites plays a major role in expanding and maintaining access to care in underserved and rural communities, and helps ensure continuity of care in those communities.
While the Subcommittee advanced the Bill following its markup session, it still must pass in both the House and Senate. Providers should closely track the Bills progress. If it is not enacted in 2024, the telehealth flexibilities borne out of the COVID-19 public health emergency may end. Practitioners should be prepared to adjust their telehealth services and billing practices in the event the flexibilities expire. On the other hand, practitioners should be prepared to continue and potentially expand their telehealth services and flexibilities if the Bill is enacted and the Secretary expands the applicability of the flexibilities to additional categories of healthcare professionals.
The population of Medicare patients that use telehealth has grown, likely in part due to the flexibilities12% of Medicare users had a telehealth service in the third quarter of 2023, which is nearly double the percentage that received at telehealth service in the first quarter of 2020. If the flexibilities end, many Medicare patients who have grown accustom to telehealth will need to readjust how they seek out and receive healthcare services and providers will need to reassess how to best serve those patients.
*Gabriela Garcia-Bou is an associate in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm's New York office.
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California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, whose both parents died from COVID-19, appreciated Dr. Anthony Fauci's efforts in implementing policies that saved lives during the pandemic. Thanking the former Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States, Garcia took a different path to address him than Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
MTG struck Fauci hard with several allegations, questioning his alleged involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic origin story and calling for his imprisonment. Contrarily, Garcia proclaimed him an American hero.
During the Monday House subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Garcia counterstruck lawmakers who attacked medical professionals. It marked the first time Dr. Anthony Fauci testified publicly since retiring in December 2022.
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CNN reported that the California lawmaker's mother was a healthcare worker. Moreover, she and Garcia's stepfather succumbed to the same ailment, dying from COVID-19. As a result, the Democrat said, I lost both of my parents during the pandemic, so I take this very personally.
Also, citing the far-right politician's June 2021 statement on Steve Bannon's podcast War Room, Garcia hit back at Greene for criticising COVID-19 mandates around masking up. Furthermore, the Congressman didn't take her words about putting Fauci in prison lightly.
Standing by Fauci's side, Garcia said, Your quote-unquote so-called science that the gentlewoman is referring to has saved millions of lives in this country and around the world. Further stating his opinion, he called Fauci an American hero for doing more to save lives than all 435 members of this body on both sides of the aisle.
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The Congressman also later took to his X/Twitter feed, making more remarks about sticking by Fauci: Im in our Oversight Committee with Dr. Fauci testifying. As someone that lost two parents to the COVID pandemic, I will not allow these right-wing extremists to lie and spread dangerous conspiracy theories. We will fight back.
In 2021, Greene claimed she didn't believe in evolution and expressed her scepticism of that type of so-called science, asserting her belief in the lab leak" theory. During her appearance on Steve Bannon's (ex-aide to former President Donald Trump) podcast, she added, I believe in God, and these viruses were not making people sick until they created them they weaponise these viruses to be able to attach to our cells and make us sick. Leaning into several other conspiracy theories, Greene stood by her claims that the coronavirus was a bioweapon.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci testified on Monday before a House panel investigating the origins of COVID-19 and the government's response.
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