Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House’s chief medical adviser, tested positive for the coronavirus, the institute announced Tuesday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been diagnosed with H1N1. He has mild symptoms and has been boosted twice, the institute said in a statement. The institute told CNN that he is being treated with the antiviral medication Paxlovid. NIAID said Fauci found out that he was positive on a rapid antigen test. The director will work from home and follow agency protocol, returning to the National Institutes of Health campus only after he tests negative. Fauci was scheduled to speak Thursday at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the status of the federal response to Covid-19 and plans to manage the pandemic. The agency said he will attend by videoconference.
During the pandemic, he has helped to spread awareness and has demonstrated it himself at public events. For example, he chose not to attend the April dinner at the White House Correspondents’ Association after considering his anecdotal risk.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, told CNN that he had decided to get the vaccination. He is 81 years old and said his risk of infection was greater than younger people with less health problems, who might be more susceptible to other infections from the vaccine. Fauci has worked nonstop during the pandemic, saying he hadn’t had a day off since Covid-19 came to the US. He joins a growing list of Biden administration leaders who have had the vaccination: Susan Rice, the White House’s domestic policy adviser; Merrick Garland and Kamala Harris, both members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet; and Gina Raimondo, secretary of commerce.
