Dr. Anthony Fauci observed that his meetings with President Trump have dropped off 'dramatically' as the nation's top infectio...
Dr. Anthony Fauci observed that his meetings with President Trump have dropped off 'dramatically' as the nation's top infectious disease expert said the president would be 'very happy' with a vaccine by the end of the year.
Fauci said in an interview published Monday that Trump does not speak with him often about a vaccine – which could be a critical step in returning the economy and society to something close to its pre-virus norms.
He noted that the coronavirus task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence has had much more infrequent meetings – even as U.S. deaths from the disease topped 100,000 last week and infections tick closer to 2 million.
Dr. Anthony Fauci (r) says his meetings with the president 'have been dramatically decreased'
was at those meetings and once daily briefings afterward that Fauci became a fixture on television.
'We used to have task force meetings every single day, including Saturday and Sunday, and about 75 per cent of the time after the task force meeting we’d meet with the president,' he told Statnews in an interview.
'So I was meeting with him four times a week back, a month or so ago,' he noted.
'But as you probably noticed, that the task force meetings have not occurred as often lately. And certainly my meetings with the president have been dramatically decreased,' Fauci said.
There were numerous occasions where Fauci's public statements about lockdowns and the drug hydroxychloroquine appeared to contradict what Trump has said publicly – a fissure reporters sometimes tried to probe during question-and-answer sessions.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump at a press briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on April 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a recommendation that all Americans should wear masks or cloth face coverings in public settings. Fauci's comments on hydroxychloroquine carried a lot more caution than Trump's boosterism
President Trump has avoided wearing masks in public and in some cases appeared to egg on anti-lockdown protesters
Fauci's appearances dropped off after he contradicted Trump on hydroxychloroquine and Trump called to 'liberate' states from lockdowns
Fauci has urged American to engage in social distancing and wear masks to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus
Trump in March called the drug a 'game-changer,' and said in April there were some 'very strong signs' it works against the coronavirus. Trump stopped Fauci from answering a question about the drug at an April 5 briefing. 'He answered that question 15 times,' Trump said.
Last month, Trump revealed he was taking the anti-malarial drug preventively for the coronavirus, which in s number of scientific has shown to have harmful side-effects and even caused an increase in deaths among those taking it.
Fauci has repeatedly called for 'solid data' and studies – without embracing Trump's hopeful rhetoric that it may work.
Fauci is standing by statements that due to a rush project to identify a functioning vaccine, one may become available by the end of the year – a timetable he said the president would be happy with. He has said the ordinary time to produce one is about 18 months.
'I think that the president and the administration would be really very happy if we had a vaccine that we could deploy by the end of this year,' Fauci said. He said the initial data with the vaccine being developed by Moderna look 'very promising.' He said he was concerned about the number of 'adverse events' when the drug is given in a high dose. He said it 'looks like' the drug can be effective at a lower and safer dose.