COVID-19: Dr. Fauci quizzed at Healthline Town Hall meeting

Below, we highlight some of the main points that the panel discussed.Widely considered the United States’ leading epidemiologist, Dr. Fauci has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984.As the NIAID website explains, “Dr. Fauci has advised six Presidents on [HIV or AIDS] and many other domestic and global health issues.”His extensive work in immunology has helped bring to fruition therapies for conditions that were once fatal, such as polyarteritis nodosa, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and lymphomatoid granulomatosis.Now, with COVID-19 at the forefront of everyone’s mind, he has become a figurehead for robust science during dark times.Among other topics covered at the Healthline Town Hall meeting, he spoke about returning to school and the ongoing social and scientific challenges presented by COVID-19.Joining Dr. Fauci on the virtual stage were Dr. Elaine Hanh Le, Chief Medical Officer at Healthline, and two Healthline advisors: mental health specialist Dr. Timothy Legg, and pulmonologist and front-line physician Dr. Raj Dasgupta.Setting the scene for the discussion, Dr. Dasgupta spoke about the range of emotions he experienced working on the front-line during a pandemic, his overarching drive to remain positive, and how his family tested positive for COVID-19.Dr. Legg talked about the wave of anxiety impacting many of his patients in recent months: anxieties based around health and the health of loved ones, school closures, returning to school, childcare, anxieties about job security and financial concerns, and the increase in intimate partner violence.As an expert in substance abuse, he also mentions the difficulties some of his clients have experienced with abstinence during the pandemic.Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment.Dr. Dasgupta, a parent with young children, confirms the stress that surrounds this question for both parents and children, and the importance of social interaction.As Dr. Hahn Le says, this issue has many layers of complexity and “has been hotly debated.” Given the same data, people come to opposite conclusions about whether going back to school is the best course of action.Dr. Fauci acknowledges the complex set of factors that people must consider when determining whether children can return to schools. When asked about the vaccine that Russian officials recently announced, Dr. Fauci says they “could not have adequately tested it yet.” He explains the important distinction between having a vaccine that looks like it works and proving that it is safe, saying:“For all practical purposes, I could say we have six vaccines, but [we] wouldn’t give [them] to anyone yet without a clinical trial.”Another hot topic on social media is whether a COVID-19 vaccine would ever be mandated.