●Sixty-fourpercentofAmericanshavesaidhishandlingof
thecoronavirusoutbreakis “good”or“excellent,”according
toanOctoberMorningConsult/Politicopoll;politicianson
bothsidesoftheaislehavefailedtobreak50%.Fauci,thetopinfectiousdiseasedoctorin theU.S.since
1984,haspracticallyreachedrock-starstatusforhisrolein
educatingthecountryonCovid-19;he’sspokenbluntly,or
asbluntlyaspossible,evenin thefaceofPresidentTrump’s
criticism.EditedexcerptsfromFauci’sconversationon
Nov. 17 withBloomberg’sMichelleFayCortez:BloombergBusinessweek: Whendidyouknowthisyear
wasgoingtobeonefortherecordbooks?
Fauci: When
NewYorkgothit
asbadlyasit got
hitinthespring,
then I knew it
wasgoingtobe
a really, really
badyear.When
youhavea virus
thatis thathighlytransmissible—
that makes enough people
sickthat youalmostoverrun
thesystemin a cityassophisti-
catedasNewYork—thenI knew
wewerein fora hardtime.
What’sgonewell?
Things certainly went well
withregardtothescience.We
wouldnotevenbeclosetothis
10 yearsagowithoutthetech-
nologyofthenewvaccineplat-
forms[thefirsttousea genetic
blueprintofthevirustoprompt
animmuneresponse],which
are the result of basic and
appliedclinicalresearch,plus
the network ofclinical trial
sitesthatI originallysetupto
testforpreventionandtreatmentofHIV.Thisis thefruit
ofinvestmentthatlongantedatedCovid-19.
DoyouseeHIV/AIDSandCovid-19asbookendsto
yourcareer?
I stillwanttoattackmalariaandtuberculosis,soI’mnot
throughyet.But,yes,let’ssayit is.HIVwasanoutbreakwith
devastatingconsequencesforsociety.We’renowalmost
40 years into the HIV epidemic, and it’s still a lingering, smol-
dering global outbreak. We’ve had spectacular success with
HIV in the realm of therapy, not so much in the realm of vac-
cines. The situation is similar with Covid to the extent that
it’s a brand-new infection that has thrust itself on society.
But it ends there, because this is an explosive outbreakthatessentiallythreatenseveryoneonthe planet. We’ve
seenit literallyshutdowneverything,causing economic
destructionanddevastation.It’stheworstoutbreakofa
respiratory-borneillnessin 102 years.Great strides of sci-
encehavealreadygivenustwosafeand highly effective
vaccines.Ultimatelywewillgetcontrolof this virus.
EarlyintheHIVoutbreak,youtookheavy criticism. Did
youeverimagineyouwouldbebeloved?
That’sjustpartofsociety’sthirstingforclarity, for facts, for
informationthat’sbasedonsoundscience and evidence.
I’vebecomea symbolofthat.
What’syouradvicetoAmericansabout end-of-the-year
holidays?
Isit worththeriskofbringinga lotofpeople together, or
should you say,
“We’re going to
pull back a little
bit on the holi-
day season until
wegetit under
bettercontrol”?
It could be
worse at the
endoftheyear. We already
hear that planes are fully
booked,airports are going to
becrowded. That’s going to
leadtoanupsurge in cases.
Didyouhave to pull
anypunches because of
politics?
I haven’tpulled back. That’s
thereasonI’ve been threat-
ened, both my life and my
safety. My family has been
harassedbecause I have not
pulledback. That is a ridicu-
loussituation, where some-
one whois trying to give a
public-health message actu-
allyhastheir life threatened.
I’vechosen this life. I am not
worried about myself, but I am angry that my family is also
being harassed. That is the sign of cowards, who harass
somebody’s family because the person is trying to give a
public-health message.
Has the politically charged environment, particularly
stemming from the Trump administration, damaged our
country’s response?
Parts of the country have paid no attention to public-health
measures and pushed back on them. That’s really a prob-
lem. I’m not going to comment on the Trump administration.
What about the Biden administration?
I’ve served six administrations. I look forward to serving
a seventh.72
A
N
T
H
O
N
Y
DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL INSTITUTE
OF ALLERGY
AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
F
A
U
C
I
Bloomberg Businessweek December 7, 2020