Top doctors, scientists support Fauci in open letter

More than 100 top doctors and scientists from across the country have signed on to an open letter in defense of Anthony Fauci, MD, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The letter touts Fauci’s 40 years of leadership through the HIV, Ebola, and COVID-19 outbreaks as well as his consistent messaging on mask-wearing, social distancing, and vaccination.

“His advice has been as well informed as data and the rapidly evolving circumstances allowed,” the letter says. “And importantly, he has given his advice with humility, being clear about what we know and what is unknown, but requires judgment.”

Fauci, who also serves as chief medical advisor to President Joe R. Biden, has been the face of the nation’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 when he often appeared alongside President Donald J. Trump and other administration officials before the press in the early days of the public health emergency.

With this newfound celebrity, Fauci has also found himself cast as the bogeyman for a host of activists and politicians who portray him as an architect of the pandemic. Attacks against Fauci have come in many forms including repeated confrontations in hearings with Republican Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and a book from noted antivaccine advocate Robert Kennedy Jr.

“We deplore the personal attacks on Dr. Fauci,” the letter says. “The criticism is inaccurate, unscientific, ill-founded in the facts and, increasingly, motivated by partisan politics. It is a distraction from what should be the national focus – working together to finally overcome a pandemic that is killing about 500,000 people a year. We are grateful for Dr. Fauci’s dedication and tireless efforts to help the country through this pandemic and other health crises.”

The letter notes that Fauci has stated the science in a way which represents the facts as they were understood at the time but laments that misinformation has undermined the effectiveness of the country’s response to the pandemic.