Dr. Anthony Fauci- a high-profile public figure has made headlines ever since the Coronavirus pandemic began wreaking havoc. The infectious disease expert has been a medical advisor to seven US presidents and has also been awarded a slew of honours including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Over 3,200 emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by Buzzfeed News, the Washington Post, and CNN of Fauci’s correspondence from January to June 2020 with government officials, health experts in the US and abroad gives an insight into his experience of the early days of the pandemic and the frustrations accompanying it.
Here are a few emails sent and received by Dr. Fauci:
Perhaps the most interesting email was received in January 2020 from Kristian Andersen, an
immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California who wrote, “The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all of the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered.”
To which Fauci responded that he would reach out to Andersen via phone. However, the reality is that Andersen also wrote in the same email: "There are still further analyses to be done, so those opinions could still change.”
CNN reported at the outset of the pandemic in February 2020, a seemingly frazzled Fauci wrote in an email, "This is White House in full overdrive and I am in the middle of it." Reminiscent of post-anthrax days," he added.
During these emails, one of the responses caught the internet's eye, where Fauci wrote to a journalist, "I am really tired. Not much sleep these days."
On 31 March, Fauci was sent an email with a Washington Post piece entitled ‘Fauci socks, Fauci doughnuts, Fauci fan art: The coronavirus expert attracts a cult following.’ “Truly surrealistic,” Fauci responded, as any sane person in the face of such fanfare would. "Hopefully, this all stops soon."In another note, he added: “It is not at all pleasant, that is for sure.”
Buzzfeed reported that In April, a White House fellow mailed Fauci to enquire if Fauci would be interested in co-writing an op-ed on COVID-19 and thus "unite the nation.”. Forwarding the mail to several colleagues, Fauci asked, “How do we nicely say no to this person?”
In April 2020, Fauci forwarded an email to undisclosed recipients after he received a Google alert about news stories mentioning his name. “Click on the ‘Cuomo Crush’ and ‘Fauci Fever’ link below. It will blow your mind. Our society is really totally nuts,” a seemingly bewildered Fauci wrote.
On 18 April 2020, Fauci, facing harassment and threats to his family from Trump supporters for speaking out in favour of social distancing and lockdowns, received the following email from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention director George Gao: “I saw some news (hope it is fake) that [you] are being attacked by some people. Hope you are well under such an irrational situation.” To this Fauci replied, “Thank you for your kind note,” Fauci replied on 21 April, 2020. “All is well despite some crazy people in this world.
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