This week on the podcast, we spoke to Dr. Anthony Fauci about the current state of COVID and advice for parents on the upcoming school year. We had a mix of fun and serious questions planned. Our goal was to inform people what scientists are seeing in regards to COVID and also to get to know Dr. Fauci (the man who used to be plastered on our TV every day of 2020) as a person.
That was before we understood the severity of threats against his family.
Early on in the interview, we asked what the pandemic was like for him and his family on a personal level. He said he couldn’t answer that because their experience isn’t typical. Typical people don’t have to travel with armed guards or worry about violence against their loved ones. Typical people don’t get horrifyingly detailed threats made against them, their wife, or their daughters. Typical people don’t have to deal with others getting arrested because they want to kill them.
“My children get threatened, they get harassed… I’ve had people who are now in jail because they’ve been convicted of literally trying to kill me with a credible threat,” explained Dr. Fauci.
To be honest, I almost couldn’t even focus on the remaining questions we had for him because all I kept thinking about was, how did it come to this? Where do we go from here?
Are We Living With COVID?
There are many times we put out a video, podcast, or blog about something we believe in, and people tell us that they are leaving our channel. We lose followers, but life goes on. If you’re someone who is reading this and upset about this interview, I would encourage you to listen. So many times we forget that talking heads are real humans, like you and me.
It was helpful to talk to Dr. Fauci about the future of COVID, and how to deal with potential spikes that may occur during the school year. He reminded us that only 67% of the population is vaccinated and as a nation, we rank much lower than other countries.
“There is a misinterpretation and misrepresentation that it’s ok for kids to get infected. True, children statistically have much less of a chance of getting severe disease. But children do suffer from COVID, and some get very serious disease. And a lot more die from COVID than from influenza. So you really gotta be careful, make sure we protect the children,” Dr. Fauci reminded us.
In the interview, I shared my Aunt’s story who lived with polio (she was born a year before the vaccine was available). The virus paralyzed her from the waist down. She lived a full life, but it was a hard life. It was difficult seeing someone struggle with an illness that a vaccine could prevent. You can get information about COVID vaccines and boosters here.
Listen to our discussion using the links below. We wish Dr. Fauci the best of luck on his next endeavor. Thank you for sharing your purpose with us.
