Starting in 2023, we won’t have Dr. Anthony Fauci to start around anymore. After 38 years of government service, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and chief medical adviser to the White House, is leaving his job — let alone “retiring” — and, at the age of 82, is leading to his next adventure.
It’s hard to imagine anything more adventurous than what he’s been through during the past three pandemic years. The country — well, for the most part — sympathizes with his anguish as he tries to decipher the ever-changing challenges of Covid while his former White House boss has, at various points, named the infection with a racial slur, claiming it was no worse than the flu (it killed one million people in America alone so far), and suggested that it could be handled with a good shot of bleach. Fauci’s role as a highly qualified head of an important research lab, leading an important research lab has garnered many fans, but as the pandemic progressed, it also makes him a target for those who sniff out the plot or are simply sick of following instructions that could save lives. their life.
On the night before Fauci left the government, the whole country found itself in a strange place. We’ve made quite a few statements about ourselves done with Covid. But Covid is not done with us. It killed 2,504 Americans last week, and many thousands of people are living with the debilitating misery of prolonged Covid. However, those wearing masks at indoor gatherings — like Fauci — were mocked. Fauci herself had Covid earlier this year, when he let his guard down and lowered his mask.
For my fourth interview with Dr. Fauci (you can read the previous posts here, hereand here), I decided to ask him how he assesses the psychology of rejection — and also to get a glimpse of what we’ve got in store for us this winter. Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Steven Levy: Let’s talk about this winter. Are you expecting those two new Covid variants BQ.1 and BQ1.1—Didn’t they really cross the tongue — to dominate soon?
Anthony Fauci: Looks like it’s headed in that direction. They went from part of a fraction, to a few, to now two digits. I hope that, as we have seen in other countries, those variations will probably play some role. But they are not the only ones. You know, yes BA4.6, BF.7. And then there are other people that aren’t even here that exist in other countries.
Those variations are troublesome, aren’t they?
Yes, they are different, slightly evasive. They remove a number of monoclonal antibodies that have been used effectively. But if you look at the relationship between them and the currently dominant variants, they are offshoots of that lineage. So even though the vaccine doesn’t match the variant exactly, I believe there will be enough cross-reactivity to not create a serious problem in vaccinated people, especially those already vaccinated. and increase.
