In a Biden presidency, will Dr. Fauci be the 3rd person in history to win 2 Medals of Freedom?

[brucejoel99]

Just as the title says: do you believe that a President Biden would (&/or should?) present Dr. Fauci with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (perhaps with Distinction?) in recognition of the firm & steady leadership that he has provided during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering an unwavering, trusted voice to the nation on behalf of science-based policy & public health?

This would be the 2nd Medal of Freedom he's received, the first having been from W. back in 2008. And he'd become only the 3rd person in American history to receive 2 Medals of Freedom, after Ellsworth Bunker (in 1963 & 1967, both with Distinction) & Colin Powell (in 1991 & 1993, the latter with Distinction).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

When he comes out with the antibiotics that kills the disease of course which may not come until 2022 or even 2024

[Woody]

Never forget this:

[It’s so Joever]

Never forget this:

Petition to delete your account.

[brucejoel99]

Never forget this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLNBw7XCM4Q

So, let me get this straight: you want us to never forget how Fauci's rather temporary skepticism about ad-hoc masks was well-founded & was shared by a fair amount of the public health community at that time, given how little data about a novel coronavirus we had, & how, in short order, we realized - due to there being more data - that N-95 & surgical-grade masks weren't necessary for protection against the virus as any old physical cloth covering would be sufficient for providing a statistically-significant benefit, thereby leading Fauci & others to promptly update their messaging?

And following on from that, I presume that you'd also want us to never forget how you Trumpists continue to pick at that grossly misleading speck of time as a false talking-point because you desperately need some cover - any cover, & any deflection - from the fact that your cult boss was fatally negligent?

Okay, sounds good to me.

[Sir Mohamed]

Likely yes. Can't wait for Mr. Trump's raging Tweet(s) then:

[Del Tachi]

Of course he should, as there's no better way for Democrats to virtue signal how Pro Science they are than to give the PMF to an attention-seeking TV queen who can't even throw a baseball

[brucejoel99]

Of course he should, as there's no better way for Democrats to virtue signal how Pro Science they are than to give the PMF to an attention-seeking TV queen who can't even throw a baseball

Mr. President, is that you?

[GoTfan]

Never forget this:

There are what's called scientific findings. They're these magical little things that yes, contain information that can cause a dramatic shift. Facui changed his mind after reading the information.

[Santander]

Never forget this:

There are what's called scientific findings. They're these magical little things that yes, contain information that can cause a dramatic shift. Facui changed his mind after reading the information.

I don't think scientific studies on mask-wearing started in 2020.

[emailking]

I figured it was kind of like being knighted. Does it make sense to get it more than once?

[Calthrina950]

Of course he should, as there's no better way for Democrats to virtue signal how Pro Science they are than to give the PMF to an attention-seeking TV queen who can't even throw a baseball

Donald Trump deserves much more blame for how the pandemic has progressed than Dr. Fauci.

[GoTfan]

Never forget this:

There are what's called scientific findings. They're these magical little things that yes, contain information that can cause a dramatic shift. Facui changed his mind after reading the information.

I don't think scientific studies on mask-wearing started in 2020.

*sigh*

[Tintrlvr]

I figured it was kind of like being knighted. Does it make sense to get it more than once?

It's been given twice to the same person two previous times, so I guess so. I think of it more like the Nobel Prizes in that it's given for a specific accomplishment, and so in theory you could receive it more than once if you had multiple accomplishments that were sufficiently noteworthy.

[Ferguson97]

Are conservatives really using the "science is a liar sometimes" defense from It's Always Sunny?

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Never forget this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLNBw7XCM4Q

So, let me get this straight: you want us to never forget how Fauci's rather temporary skepticism about ad-hoc masks was well-founded & was shared by a fair amount of the public health community at that time, given how little data about a novel coronavirus we had, & how, in short order, we realized - due to there being more data - that N-95 & surgical-grade masks weren't necessary for protection against the virus as any old physical cloth covering would be sufficient for providing a statistically-significant benefit, thereby leading Fauci & others to promptly update their messaging?

Here's a video from March by a private citizen in the Czech Republic about why people should wear masks, and how to make cloth ones at home:

The Czech government heeded the campaign's advice, mandated mask-wearing in public and avoided a first wave (400 deaths in total by September).

Here's the studies referenced in the video description on the effectiveness of mask-wearing in a pandemic:

- "We conclude that population-wide use of face masks could make an important contribution in delaying an influenza pandemic. Mask use also reduces the reproduction number, possibly even to levels sufficient for containing an influenza outbreak." Brienen, Nicole CJ, et al. "The effect of mask use on the spread of influenza during a pandemic." Risk Analysis: An International Journal 30.8 (2010): 1210-1218."

- "Any type of general mask use is likely to decrease viral exposure and infection risk on a population level, in spite of imperfect fit and imperfect adherence, personal respirators providing most protection." - van der Sande, M., Teunis, P., & Sabel, R. (2008). Professional and home-made face masks reduce exposure to respiratory infections among the general population. PLoS One, 3(7).

- "However, during a severe pandemic when use of face masks might be greater, pandemic transmission in households could be reduced." MacIntyre, C. R., Cauchemez, S., Dwyer, D. E., Seale, H., Cheung, P., Browne, G., ... & Ferguson, N. (2009). Face mask use and control of respiratory virus transmission in households. Emerging infectious diseases, 15(2), 233.

- Davies, A., Thompson, K. A., Giri, K., Kafatos, G., Walker, J., & Bennett, A. (2013). Testing the efficacy of homemade masks: would they protect in an influenza pandemic?. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 7(4), 413-418.

Here's an article from February showing that it was known back then that Covid was influenza-like and spread via aerosol infection.

Here's another article from March about the government of Thailand mandating mask usage and encouraging people to make cloth masks at home to alleviate shortages. Here's an article from the New York Times in July titled "No-one Knows What Thailand is Doing Right, but So Far, It's Working" ("Can the country's low rate of coronavirus infections be attributed to culture? Genetics? Face masks? Or a combination of all 3?")

The grotesque incompetence and cynicism of western governments and public health officials like Fauci, who either were so utterly ignorant as to miss what Chinese doctors, the Thailand government and a Czech social media influencer knew, or were cynical enough not to care about hundreds of thousands of people dying if dissimulating to the public about the efficacy of masks protected PPE stockpiles, chills my blood. CDC and WHO advice, and NHS advice in my own country, killed hundreds of thousands of people. They ed up. It should be the greatest public health scandal of our lifetime, but the Faucis of the world will skate on by because no-one has interest in holding accountable these despicable idiots, supposed experts who we put trust in to keep us safe and failed us.

And yeah, Trump made everything worse, but that's a very low bar for a doctor to clear.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Postscript: this is a GP who appears on TV here and has a column in a national newspaper

[emailking]

At the time people were hoarding N95 masks and there were shortages of PPE. The messaging about masks was aimed at ending these shortages so health care workers could treat Covid patients and not die. Yes it would have been better for them to instruct people to make your own masks. Of course, those provide minimal protection for the user (this was being pointed out constantly), which is why people were hoarding the N95s.