A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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Nov. 20, 2014 - Did Newsmaker Luncheon talk at the National Press Club on Ebola. Got much play in the printed press. Things still calm regarding Ebola with attention switching from the threat in the USA to background issues like the $6.18 billion request from the POTUS (see above Senate Hearing). Also, some increasing noise from Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA) regarding his pushing for the leaders of the 3 Ebola hospitals (NIH, Emory, Nebraska) to quarantine for 21 days their staff that took care of Ebola patients and not allow them to see other patient for 21 days. We are all adamantly against this and I have been the vocal one saying that we must stick with the science and the CDC recommendation of stratification of risks to HCWs balanced by the stratification of monitoring and restrictions. Murphy is not happy with me. Had dinner with Danny Hultzen and his father Chris. Discussed the situation with his shoulder injury. He feels good and looks great. I have a strong feeling that if his shoulder holds out, he will make it to the MLB with the Seattle Mariners.
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Nov. 25, 2014 - Did Webcast for Harvard School of Public Health on Ebola. Panel discussion with Barry Bloom and others. NEJM paper to come out of Thursday (Thanksgiving) reporting on the results of the phase 1 trial of the NIAID/GSK Ebola vaccine (Ledgerwood et al). Embargoed until Wednesday (Nov 26) at 5:00 PM. And so press starting to get excited about it. Thus, did CBS Evening News tape for Friday PM? Also, Medscape Interview. And plenty of embargoed print interviews. As expected, the Brits (Wellcome Trust, Adrian Hill from Oxford) are downplaying the study saying the required dose is too high and the durability is low without a booster. They are amazing.
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Nov. 26, 2014 - Much press associated with the NEJM paper. Did AP TV, BBC TV, Cox TV, Bloomberg print, Reuters print, BBC radio and then later at night BBC TV again. POTUS comes out with White House statement congratulating "Francis Collins and Tony Fauci and their teams...." On the successful phase 1 trial of an Ebola vaccine and announces that he will visit NIH on Dec. 2 to congratulate the NIH teams and to emphasize the need for the requested $6.18 billion supplemental for Ebola. ag Ebola vaccine
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Nov. 27, 2014 (Thanksgiving) - Again, still interest in the NEJM paper. Did BBC TV via phone plus my photo, CNN International via phone plus my photo. Also did NewsHour with Judy Woodruff. WETA picked me up with an Uber car and promised to take me to the studio in Arlington, do interview, and get me back in time for Thanksgiving visit and dinner at 4:00 PM at Joanne and Jim's house. They did it on time.
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2014-11-30 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
Nov. 30, 2014 - Did CNN International discussing Ebola vaccine
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Dec. 1, 2014 - World AIDS Day. Went to White House and gave main lecture at the WAD ceremonies in the South Court Auditorium. My talk went over so well that they started clapping at the final sequence of slides of the maps of USA and the world becoming free of AIDS even before my talk ended. Also speaking were Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry (shouted out to me), Secretary Burwell (many shout outs to me), Gayle Smith (also praised me), Bishop Yvette Flunder (gave moving sermon/speech). Then panel with Debbie Birx, Mark Dybul, Greg Millett, Helene Gayle - chaired by Sylvia Burwell. Came back to NIH to do walk-through for the POTUS visit to NIH tomorrow. Did CNN International and NPR Morning Edition radio with Scott Horsley.
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Dec. 2, 2014 - Today was most extraordinary day. Began with a presentation that I made together with Debbie Birx (PEPFAR) at the Russell Senate office building. We made a dual presentation in celebration of world AIDS Day to a group of Senate and House staffers. It went over very well. I rushed back to the NIH in time to do an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC about the successful phase 1 Ebola vaccine trial conducted here at NIH that was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. When I got back to NIH we began the preparation for the 4:00 PM visit by Pres. Obama. It was an extremely successful visit. I led him on a tool of the Vaccine Research Center, gave him a brief introduction of the history of the center, telling him the story about my conversation with Pres. Clinton in December of 1996 when Clinton promised me that he would have a vaccine center built for us on the NIH campus. Nancy Sullivan presented to him on the 2nd Floor of the VRC her work on the development of an Ebola vaccine. We then took him to the 5th floor where Mario Roederer showed him the intricacies of the FACS machine. The President was very relaxed, warm, and highly complementary of me and the NIH. Following the tour of the VRC, I rode with the president in the presidential limousine from the VR across campus to Building 10 where he addressed an overflow crowd of the entire NIH community in Masur auditorium. He thanked me specifically several times during the talk and he thanked various components of the NIH community for their work on Ebola and other important diseases. He specifically gave a shout out to the VRC people, the people who conducted the phase 1 trial, and to the nurses and staff who took care of in October. During his talk to the NIH community, the president gave me many compliments and shout outs. In particular he joked about how had told me how to use FaceTime. In addition, he joked that "Tony and I were findly reminiscing about SARS and H1N1". He then said after a big laugh "that's what these guys do for fun". The President mentioned my name multiple times during the talk. It was a great day for NIH. Following the visit, I rushed downtown to the Mellon Auditorium on 13th St. and Constitution Avenue to participate in the dinner given by the Friends of the Global Fight, chaired by Mike Gerson (Washington Post). On the panel with me were Mark Dybul and Deborah Birx. I ran into many people who I know and like at the dinner. These include Peter Staley who I am very fond of from our many experiences over the years in the activist days. Peter looked bright and alert but rather thin and drawn likely due to his many years of being on antiretroviral therapy. They showed a short clip of his icon speech at the International AID Meeting in San Francisco in 1990 when he said that someday people will speak of the deadly plague and how some stood up to confront it. I cry every time I hear that speech. In 1990, I gave a speech at the meeting right after Peter. Former Sen. Chris Dodd gave me several shout outs about the work that I have done over decades, calling me a national hero. Nancy Pelosi gave a talk in which he mentioned several times our extraordinary relationship over the years in fighting HIV AIDS. All this praise was quite moving and gave me an added perspective about the many years (decades) that I have been involved in this struggle. All in all it was a great evening. The following day the story with my picture (with the POTUS, Nancy Sullivan, and Sylvia Burwell) were in the Washington Post and New York Times as well as on the Evening News programs.
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Dec. 3, 2014 - At his request, went to the Rayburn Office Building office of Chairman Timothy Murphy (R-PA). Murphy was upset with me at a recent Hearing (see above) when he said that I was making condescending statements about quarantine and why we should not have quarantines. He invited me down to his office to discuss further at a 10:00 AM meeting. With him was Committee Staffer Alan Slobodin (of past outside activity investigation fame) and Murphy's Chief of Staff Susan Mosychuk and his legislative Director Brad Grantz. Murphy had also been giving Tom Frieden grief about the same issue. Meeting actually went well - cordial, respectful. The underlying theme was still the need in his mind for quarantining of all West African entrants to USA or better restrict travel of West Africans (3 countires0 to USA and provide an "air bridge" to bring in USA HCWs. Also, he was concerned that with the latest proposal for 32 additional Ebola-ready hospitals in the USA that we should quarantine the USA HCWs after seeing Ebola patients. He was OK with just direct, active monitoring of the NIH, Emory and Nebraska HCWs, but he felt that since the other 32 hospitals were less trained and so would likely have a greater chance of getting infected, then they should be quarantined since (as a former Clinical Psychologist) he feels that people deny sxs and so he does not trust them. He is against the part of the $6.18 billion supplemental request for Ebola on the grounds that we do not needs all the additional hospitals (I actually do not entirely disagree with him as I have expressed to our own people). The meeting ended cordially.
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Dec. 4, 2014 - Gave Ebola talk at the new FDA facility in White Oak. Quite a place! Huge! They loved the talk. Also, new infectious diseases issue. The H3N2 component of the 2014-2015 influenza vaccine is mismatched to the early circulating ve strain of H3N2, which is predominant over H1N1 and B, the latter of which match the vaccines. The match for H3N2 is only 48%. I was on WTOP explaining this. Could be a bad influenza winter.