Outgoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed Tuesday on FNC’s “Your World” that the COVID shutdowns did not “forever irreparably” damage anyone.
Cavuto said, “In retrospect, Doctor, do you regret that it went too far, whatever your original intentions were, and it’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback here, but that it went too far, that, particularly for kids who couldn’t go to school, except remotely, that it’s forever damaged them?”
Fauci said, “Right. Well, I don’t think it’s forever irreparably damaged anyone. But I think, obviously, and you — if you go back — and people selectively, Neil, pull things out about me. I was also one of the people that said we have got to do everything we can to get the children back in school. Go back to some of the clips that you and I had on your own show when I have said that it’s very important that we protect the children from the collateral effects of keeping them out of school. Go to the record. I have said that so many times, and yet there’s a distortion.”
Cavuto said, “So, if we had something, God forbid, like this again, Doctor — I’m sorry — that — and the same ideas were bandied about, a shutdown, let’s do things remotely, would you consider that? Do you think we should, as a country, consider that again?
Fauci said, “I think we should always learn lessons from the past, Neil. That is one of the things about medicine and science and public health that I have tried to do for my entire 50-year career, to be flexible and open-minded. So, if you look at things we may not have done perfectly or even not done well, you go back, and you try to learn from that.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN