COVID Update: I want to talk about Tony Fauci and the critics of Tony Fauci. 1/
A few years back, on the heels of the SARS & MERS viruses, Tony Fauci, who is a scientist, made significant investments in the mRNA vaccine platform so we could be ready for the next pandemic.

Best I can tell, his critics, not scientists, did not. 2/
On January 10, 2020, Tony Fauci & his team began developing a vaccine, over the next 2 months isolating the protein, stabilizing the mRNA,
& running a clinical trial.

At that time, and for the next 2 months, Donald Trump denied the pandemic existed. 3/
Looking back, if there were no mRNA platform that Fauci decided to fund, there would be only a few limited, slightly less effective & less scalable vaccines.

Looking back, if Donald Trump had simply warned the country about the pandemic, more people would be alive today. 4/
The scientific advice Tony Fauci provides is carefully researched & sourced & based on the best evidence at the time, decades of pattern recognition & consultation with the best scientists.

Criticism of Fauci comes from Facebook & other less scientific publications. 5/
Unlike those at Moderna, Biontech, and other firms involved in the vaccine development, Fauci makes a government salary & has only made a government salary for decades.

He and his wife have dedicated their entire lives & considerable talents to the public & scientific good. 6/
It would stand to reason that having the foresight to make the investments at a time when most of us had never heard of coronavirus that are now bringing us out of the pandemic would cause at a minimum some level of acknowledgement if not gratitude. 7/
For whatever reason, rather than appreciation, for many, Fauci has become a convenient target of anger, anti-science rhetoric, and violent threats. 8/
All of us who have served the public can handle criticism. Indeed, it is a healthy part of a transparent process. And we know it goes with the territory.

The level of vitriol from conservative media veers considerably from acceptable criticism. Itโ€™s nothing but destructive. 9/
The criticism also fails to answer the question: OK, whatโ€™s your alternative?

Where would we be without him? What would you do instead?

I get no comfort from imagining Rand Paul or Tucker Carlson having to make life or death decisions for us. 10/
If the alternative to Tony Fauci is Scott Atlas, I hope we have the wisdom to choose the deep over the shallow, doers over second guessers, the research over the sound bite, the scientist over the cable TV pundit, and the institutions which serve us vs the improvisers. end/

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More from @ASlavitt

24 Oct
COVID Update: We turn our focus now to 28 million kids 5-11.

Presuming final approval next week, this vaccine rollout will have a number of differences & In hoping we donโ€™t run from the nuances. 1/
There will be 28 million kids newly eligible for vaccination.

There is little doubt that they are at risk from COVID & Delta. 6 million kids have had COVID, over 1 million in the last 6 weeks. 2/
While few kids end up of dying of COVID, cases arenโ€™t all mild, nor do they all end when the acute illness ends. MIS-C is quite problematic.

And cases can be severe in kids. This summer thousands of kids per week were being hospitalized. 3/
Read 19 tweets
22 Oct
COVID Update: Vital. We now have enough vaccines to vaccinate every adult in the globe by the end of the year.

Everything we have should go towards getting those into arms ASAPโ€” particularly with some troubling hints of new mutations. 1/
There are about 5 billion adults on the planet.

3 billion are currently vaccinated. 3.77 billion have had a single shot.

In the last 30 days, we produced 1.3 billion vaccines. We are not far. 2/
Most countries have high vaccination levels.
The first set of countries had the money & the foresight to bet on the right vaccines
The second set of countries had the money
The remaining countries get whatโ€™s left when itโ€™s available. 3/
Read 22 tweets
18 Oct
COVID Update: The loss of Colin Powell to complications from COVID provides an overpowering lesson: get vaccinated. 3 million people with compromised immune systems depend on you. 1/
Most importantly, my condolences to Alma and General Powellโ€™s family. Even the loss of such a public person is a deeply personal one.

We donโ€™t just have 700,000 losses. We have a deeply personal death 700,000 times.

Less famously, this is still happening 2000 times a day. 2/
Amidst our overall reaction to this national loss is surprise from some that a fully vaccinated person could die from COVID.

Vaccinated people can die of COVID if their immune system isnโ€™t strong enough to benefit fully from a vaccine. This is why we all need to protect them.3/
Read 11 tweets
18 Oct
COVID Update: Thereโ€™s lots of evidence that the country has made up its mind about vaccine requirements.

Now time to get our leaders to follow. 1/
OK soโ€ฆ policy is a series of trade offs.

For example, environmental regulations vs. unfettered economic growth. Thatโ€™s a trade off.

In the case of vaccine requirements to enter places where lots of people can get infected, thereโ€™s also a trade off. 2/
Benefits of requiring vaccinations at school, work, travel: Saving lives & ending the pandemic earlier

vs

Harm of requiring vaccinations: violating the incorrect perception of a few that this violates the constitution & is equivalent to martial law

As I say, trade offs 3/
Read 16 tweets
16 Oct
COVID Update: Thereโ€™s always a way to do it right.

When we do the payoff is huge. 1/
Letโ€™s start with Merck. Merck historically pays a lot of attention to global health equity.

As they roll out their highly effective anti-viral, molnupiravir ,they have already contracted with 5 generic manufacturers in India with records for effective global distribution. 2/
Poorer countries around the world and some foundations report that Merck has been coordinating to make distribution there as good or better than in wealthy nations.

Merck donates other drugs to poor nations that treat horrible illnesses where most other pharma companies donโ€™t.3/
Read 17 tweets
15 Oct
A thought about expertise.
Stroke of luck. The same people who are Twitter pandemic experts are also supply chain experts.
For a country that abhors experts, itโ€™s amazing how many there seem to be.
Read 4 tweets

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