Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wears a protective mask in the White House in Washington D.C., U.S., Jan. 21, 2021. /CFP
Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Biden's chief medical adviser on COVID-19, said the divisiveness has failed America in "every single way" in an interview with CBSNEWS on Sunday, looking back at what America has been through.
Dr. Fauci, long-serving as the country's top expert in infectious diseases, has been facing opposite reactions from the public when working under the Trump Administration. The former U.S. President Donald Trump had expressed his disagreement and doubts against Dr. Fauci several times in front of the public.
Fauci has won over many followers in the U.S. who believe Fauci's expertise and respect his work during the pandemic. It inspired people to create videos, T-shirts, coffee mugs themed with him, even including photoshopped pictures suggesting him as a saint.
The opposite is not afraid to show their distrust in him.
"I believe Dr. Fauci has manufactured the coronaviruses," a former chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Dr. Judy Mikovits once claimed in a broadcasting video, "America This Week".
Fauci said "I've had people who have threatened my life because I'm speaking public health measures." There're videos showing Fauci and his wife had to walk with the armed federal agents, according to CBSNEWS.
"I think this is a dramatic example of the divisiveness in our country," Fauci said, "We've had a complete distortion and throwing aside of scientific facts and evidence. And a certain part of the country believed the hoax aspect, the fake news aspect."
As for how America has dealt with the pandemic, Fauci pointed out the politicization of public health messages is not working at all.
"The idea that wearing a mask or not became a political statement? That makes it beyond difficult to implement a good public health measure," he said.
The U.S. has witnessed chaotic dispute on whether the people should wear the masks continuing over the first several months in 2020 when the coronavirus has been spreading to dozens of countries and killing dozens of thousands.
As of January 27, over 25 million people in the U.S. have been infected with the COVID-19 since the outbreak, with over 420,000 deaths, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the last week alone, two million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States being the main driver of the outbreak, the WHO regional branch said.
Globally, there have been over 100 million cases and 2.1 million deaths with 44 million cases in North and South America, according to a Reuters tally.
Fauci admitted if the government had passed through consistent messages, it could have saved a lot of lives. "If we had had the public health messages – from the top right through down to the people in the trenches – be consistent, that things might have been different. In fact, I'm pretty sure they would have been different."
As new administration has been formed, Fauci said a coordinated, synergistic partnership between the federal government and the states would take over in the next months.
"Right now, things are getting better, but they're gonna get much better because President Biden has made it very clear this is his top priority. You know the goal that's been set, which I believe is entirely achievable, is to have 100 million people vaccinated in the first 100 days … primary and boost."
Fauci said the new government would restore the confidence among the American people as it will be transparent and honest. "We've gotta repair it. We have to. Because the country's at stake."