Fauci hopes Trump will push his supporters to get COVID-19 vaccine
Send a link to a friend
[March 15, 2021]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dr. Anthony
Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said on Sunday he hopes
former President Donald Trump will push his supporters to get the
COVID-19 vaccine and emphasized that pandemic-related restrictions
should not be lifted prematurely.
In a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released last week, about half of U.S.
men who identified themselves as Republicans said they had no plans to
get the vaccine.
Asked whether Trump should speak to his supporters directly, given those
poll numbers, Fauci said on the "Fox News Sunday" program: "I think it
would make all the difference in the world." Trump, Fauci said, "is a
such a strongly popular person ... it would be very helpful for the
effort for that to happen."
Trump told attendees at a conservative conference last month to get
vaccinated - saying, "everybody, go get your shot" - the first time he
had encouraged people to do so.
Fauci said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program: "How such a large
proportion of a certain group of people would not want to get vaccinated
merely because of political considerations ... it makes absolutely no
sense," Fauci said.
The other living former U.S. presidents - Barack Obama, George W. Bush,
Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter - are set to appear in two public service
announcements for the coronavirus vaccine alongside their wives, without
Trump.
President Joe Biden and other political leaders received their shots
publicly to encourage Americans to get vaccinated. Trump was vaccinated
privately in the White House in January, the New York Times has
reported.
Getting the vaccine is "no brainer," Fauci told "Meet the Press," as he
listed some of the diseases that vaccines had wiped out such as small
pox. "What is the problem here? This is a vaccine that is going to be
lifesaving for millions of people," Fauci said.
[to top of second column]
|
NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director
Anthony Fauci addresses the daily press briefing at the White House
in Washington, U.S. January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Fauci is the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases and an adviser to Biden.
Trump early in the pandemic appeared at coronavirus briefings with
Fauci but later turned on him. Trump in October, weeks after being
hospitalized for three days for COVID-19 treatment, criticized Fauci,
saying, "Fauci is a disaster. ... People are tired of hearing Fauci
and all these idiots."
As president, Trump minimized the need for coronavirus restrictions
including wearing masks and predicted the pathogen would disappear
"like a miracle."
Fauci on Sunday underscored his call for officials around the United
States not to lift restrictions prematurely and risk a spike in
COVID-19 cases. Some states such as Texas have lifted mask-wearing
and other restrictions.
An uptick in cases can be avoided if Americans continue to get
vaccinated "without all of a sudden pulling back on public health
measures," Fauci told CNN's "State of the Union" program.
"We will gradually be able to pull them (restrictions) back. And if
things go as we planned, just as the president said, by the time we
get into the early summer, the Fourth of July weekend, we really
will have a considerable degree of normality. But we don't want to
let that escape from our grasp by being too precipitous in pulling
back," Fauci added.
(Reporting by Heather Timmons; Additional reporting by David Morgan,
David Shepardson and Raphael Satter; Editing by Will Dunham)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|