A COVID-stricken Dr. Anthony Fauci had to testify remotely during a Senate hearing Thursday regarding the US response to the pandemic after the nation’s leading infectious disease expert tested positive for the virus.
The 81-year-old appeared before the committee from his home, where he is isolating in the wake of Wednesday’s positive rapid test result.
It is the first time Fauci, who is quadruple-vaxxed against COVID, has announced he’s tested positive throughout the entire pandemic.
“Our current vaccines have maintained their effectiveness for preventing severe COVID-19,” Fauci said of the Omicron variant during his opening statement.
“Individuals who have received only their primary vaccine regimen have a greater likelihood of getting infected with the Omicron variant than with previous variants.”
He added, “Importantly, booster shots have been shown to significantly reconstitute and enhance the level of antibodies that neutralize the Omicron variant and in sublineages.”
Fauci, who has received two booster shots, was experiencing mild COVID-19 symptoms, the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday.
The infectious disease expert had not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials when he tested positive, the NIH added.
Fauci, who is Biden’s chief medical adviser, has become a polarizing figure throughout the more than two-year pandemic.
He was often at odds with President Donald Trump’s approach to COVID-19 policies — even when he was a leading member of the previous administration’s White House COVID task force. (NYPost)