Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses his book “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service” in conversation with former Senator Barbara Boxer at Angelico Hall at Dominican University in San Rafael, California, June 25, 2024 (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Supporters and protesters gathered this week at Dominican University in San Rafael as the face of the nation’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic took the stage.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who retired in 2022 as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, met with former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer before a packed house at Angelico Hall on Tuesday. He’s promoting his new memoir, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service.”
“People would ask me, ‘Tony, what keeps you up at night? What’s your worst nightmare?’” he told Boxer. “I would always say it was a brand new disease that somehow evolved and jumped from one species of animal to another, like the flu does.”
He recalled when COVID-19 cases began to emerge after being reported in China.
“As the weeks went by, it became clear that the virus spread incredibly easily from person to person,” Fauci said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there have been 1.1 million COVID-19-associated deaths and 6 million COVID-related hospitalizations in the United States as of April 2023.
In the Dominican Republic, Fauci spoke about his experience as an adviser to President Donald Trump during the pandemic. He said Trump accepted there was a serious outbreak in the first two months of the pandemic, but the president continued to confuse COVID-19 with the flu and believed the pandemic would end quickly.
Fauci said he began publicly contradicting Trump when the president began promoting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.
“When he started saying things that were clearly not true, I felt that in order to preserve my personal integrity, but more importantly to fulfill my obligation to the American public, I had to say, ‘No, that’s not true. not true,’” he said.
Fauci noted that Trump was less angry with him than with his White House staff, who he said tried to discredit him.
Fauci also spoke about his time researching AIDS and HIV, when little was known about the diseases in the early 1980s. He said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being unable to treat patients.
“Overnight I found myself in a situation where all my patients were dying, no matter what I did, it was like putting bandages on hemorrhages,” he said.
While reflecting on dark times in his career, Fauci also expressed optimism about continued government funding of medical research. He discussed proposed federal budget cuts for his former workplace.
“I’m optimistic because I believe the better angels of the people will prevail and realize that this is the crown jewel of the federal government and we can’t let this linger,” he said.
Fauci also encouraged collaborations between private companies and public agencies on drug and vaccine research.
“Well, we can only hope and pray that your vision comes true,” Boxer replied at the end of his interview. “It’s in our hands, isn’t it?”
Dr. Matthew Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, sat in the front row of the theater to listen to Fauci. As a medical official, he said, he has looked to Fauci for guidance throughout the pandemic.
“I’ve seen Dr. Fauci communicate on issues, whether it’s the new vaccine rollout or containment policies,” Willis said. “I always thought he was a very effective and clear communicator. I borrowed a lot from both his content, his tone, his demeanor and his calm confidence. »
As Boxer and Fauci spoke inside Angelico Hall, a crowd gathered across the street to protest. The demonstration focused on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and Fauci’s history of promoting vaccine mandates.
Steve Kirsch, a technology entrepreneur and prominent critic of COVID-19 vaccines, joined the protest. Last year, he claimed in his newsletter that these vaccines killed one person for every 1,000 doses, based on his interpretation of federal government data on vaccine side effects. The fact-checking site PolitiFact accused him of misusing the data.
When asked what he would say to Fauci, Kirsch said he would ask to have a discussion with him.
“They all said they wanted to stop misinformation,” he said. “The only way to stop misinformation is for them to convince us that we got the data wrong. So sit down and show us how we got the data wrong.”
Joining Kirsch was Angela Wulbrecht, who worked as a nurse at the University of California, San Francisco, for 17 years. She said she is involved in a class-action lawsuit against UC hospitals over its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for employees.
Wulbrecht said UC Hospital staff are aware of injuries caused by COVID-19 vaccines. These injuries include heart diseases such as myocarditis and pericarditis, she said.
Wulbrecht said she nearly died shortly after getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“By the 12th minute I was in the back of an ambulance,” she said.
Wulbrecht said she wanted to research vaccine injuries.
“First of all, they need to be recognized and studied, and provided with effective treatment and compensation for what happened to them,” she said.
Janine Pera, a Marin County resident who said she is a holistic health practitioner, got into a debate with a passerby about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. She said her friend died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“He received four COVID shots and I am very upset by his death,” Pera said.
The witness asked if she had any evidence that the death was linked to the vaccinations.
“They have to show that this is not the cause of the problem,” Pera said.
In her interview, she expressed frustration with Fauci.
“He pointed fingers instead of taking responsibility for what he said to the American people,” she said.
Neither Boxer nor Fauci spoke to the protesters during their conversation. Fauci could not be reached for comment on the event.
Dr. Sridhar Prasad, a pulmonologist at Kaiser Permanente, carried an armful of Fauci’s books after hearing him speak. He was impressed by Fauci’s support for public-private collaborations.
“The free market has yet to be able to provide goods and services, but ideas seem to come consistently from scientists who are able to continue their research without having to worry about the next quarterly results,” Prasad said.
Aubree Guthery came from Mountain View to see Fauci.
“He seems very optimistic and that gives me hope when I feel like I’m less hopeful about our current situation,” she said.
“It was good that the Dominican Republic allowed everyone to have a platform for freedom of expression,” she said, referring to the protesters. “Frankly, it’s unfortunate that this is our new reality, but I think it was handled well.”
