A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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June 18, 2021 - Global - 177,000,000/3,800,000; USA - 33,300,000/600,000 Received important e-mail with attachment from Jesse Bloom: Hi Francis, Stephen, and Toni, I'm just writing to give you a heads up that I identified a data set of early Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 sequences that has been deleted from the NIH's Sequence Read Archive (SRA). I was able to recover the deleted files from the Google Cloud and analyze the sequences, and have attached a pre-print on the analysis that I just submitted for posting by bioRxiv. Since SARS-CoV-2 origins and early spread has become a hot-button topic, I wanted to give you a heads up. I made sure to emphasize in the discussion that the SRA has many sequences and so isn't in a position to vet all deletions. Nonetheless, I think it would be highly worthwhile to do a comprehensive analysis of SRA (and other NIH) data that might be relevant to this topic that could have been deleted or otherwise overlooked. If I can be of any assistance, let me know. I have been running a pipeline to identify additional deleted SRA data using various heuristics including those in described in the attached pre-print, but have not yet completed the analysis enough to know the extent that the data I have recovered is relevant to SARS-CoV-2's origins or early spread. But as I mention in the pre-print, there are two known SRR deletions that are worth looking at. I definitely think it would be good to perform a SRA side search as well, since that will obviously be easier and more efficient, and could identify deleted data not on the cloud. Anyway, I hope overall this can be a good opportunity for the NIH to take the lead by using its remarkable data archives to make progress in resolving some of the important questions about the virus's origins. Thanks, Jesse ---- Jesse Bloom Associate Professor, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center Affiliate Associate Professor, Genome Sciences & Microbiology, University of Washington Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute paper.pdf I believe that it was somewhat imprudent on the part of Jesse bloom to make statements such as he has that indicate nefarious motives on the part of the Chinese when we have no idea why they deleted the sequences. He used words such as "obscure" and "surreptitious" which will certainly create a firestorm when conspiracy theorists read it. The best thing to do is to have Frances and I again convene a group of evolutionary virologists to discuss the potential meaning of this . We will do this two days from now on Sunday June 20. See below. Cases at around 12,000 per day NIH helped fund research involving donated fetal tissue, but Fauci was not directly involved PRESS: Excellent refutation of the lab leak hypothesis in The Guardian: Though it is newly respectable, the Wuhan lab theory remains fanciful David Robert Grimes
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June 19, 2021 - Global USA Horrible roller coaster day Global USA avirus vaccine appeal comes LZ m ● Chris and I viewed the "FAUCI" documentary doe by Nat/Geo together with the leadership of Nat/Geo films at the national geographic headquarters on 17th Street, NW. Very impressive film. ● At the request of the White House I did a walking tour of the Anacostia neighborhood Of Washington DC together with Mayor Muriel Bowser. we started off at anacostia high school where we thanked the volunteers in the basketball gym who were administering vaccines to people in the neighborhood . We then went on and addressed the volunteers in the schoolyard of Kramer Middle School. After that, the mayor and I went door to door knocking on the doors and encouraging people in the neighborhood to get vaccinated. We did that for about an hour and 15 minutes. it got written up the next day in the Washington Post (see below). PRESS: Washington Post: "For Ward 8 residents, coronavirus vaccine appeal comes with a touch of celebrity: 'It's Fauci!" https://wapo.st/3vFzhLZ
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June 20, 2021 - Global USA Uneventful and somewhat relaxing day . Still trying to process the news from yesterday. Will have to live with uncertainty for the next three months. As indicated above, Francis Collins organized a zoom call for today with a group of evolutionary biologists as well as Steve Sherry from the NIH databank in order to discuss this issue. Jesse bloom was also on the call. See email below from Francis having organized the meeting:
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June 20, 2021 at 5:58 p.m. EDT
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2021-06-21 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
June 21, 2021 - Global -178,000,000/3,900,000; USA - 33,400,000/600,000 Did an Instagam live with FGOTUS Doug Emhoff and Dikembe Mutombo to encourage people to get vaccinated. We are putting a full-court press in encouraging people to get vaccinated. Did TIKTOK interviews (rapid fire questions) from 8 young TIKTOK "influencers who amazingly have millions of followers FOX News is blasting me for saying that an attack on md is an attack on science. I am going to go on the offensive against them. To me, it is a badge of honor to be criticized by FOX. Important article in the Post today by Joel Achenbach (see below) PRESS: NY Times by Carl Zimmer and James Gorman: Fight Over Covid's Origins Renews Debate on Risks of Lab Work Excerpt from above NY Times article: {EXT WAR Daily Beast "When questioning Dr. Fauci last month, Senator Paul brought up one of the most cited examples of gain-of-function research, a study of coronaviruses done by Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina published in Nature Medicine in 2015. Working with data sent from Shi Zhengli, the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Dr. Baric and his colleagues built a new coronavirus from an existing one. All of the work was done in the North Carolina lab, and neither Dr. Zhengli nor members of her lab participated. The so-called chimeric virus that resulted was not more pathogenic than the parental virus, Dr. Baric said. "This work was approved by the N.I.H.., was peer-reviewed, P3CO reviewed and approved," Dr. Baric wrote in an email last month. The work also "involved a very different strain of beta coronavirus than the one that causes Covid-19," he said, and was considered low risk because of the particular strain in question. In the paper, he and his colleagues cautioned others about similar research. "The potential to prepare for and mitigate future outbreaks must be weighed against the risk of creating more dangerous pathogens," they wrote." Peter Hotez writing in the Daily Beast: The Unique Terror of Being a COVID Scientist After Jan. THE NEXT WAR It's no coincidence that one of the first guilty pleas in connection with the Capitol riot was of an anti-vaxxer. a Peter J. Hotez Updated Jun. 21, 2021 4:43AM ET / Published Jun. 21, 2021 3:35AM ET Alex Wong/Getty Being a scientist was not exactly fun during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in America. But somehow, even as cases and deaths are way down in the United States, the attacks on us are worse than ever. Take Anthony Fauci, a punching bag for the far right since the earliest days of the outbreak. The "Fire Fauci Act," a twisted piece of legislation first introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in April, gained additional Republican support this past week, now reaching at least a dozen House members. That leaders of the GOP would go out of their way to reduce Dr. Fauci's salary to zero and ultimately force his retirement must be examined for what it really is. This is no simple beef with someone who was frequently targeted by the administration and its allies under Donald Trump. It is, instead, a piece of a much larger and systematic anti-science project on the far right, one that is increasingly hard to separate from the Stop the Steal myth powering the right-wing fringe. CNN: 'Let me give you a flash': Hear Dr. Fauci fire back at critics https://cnn.it/35FZOy9 Washington Post % of Total Population Learn more about the distribution of vaccines. Population 2 12 Years of Age % of Population 2 12 Years of Age Population > 18 Years of Age % of Population > 18 Years of Age Population 2 65 Years of Age % of Population > 65 Years of Age Health Scientists battle over the ultimate origin story: Where did the coronavirus come from? By Joel Achenbach
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June 22, 2021 - Global USA ● Had podcast with the Conference of Mayors Vaccinations coming along very well: PRESS: BBCTV with Katty Kay; CNN "The Lead" with Jake Tapper; MSNBC "All In" with Chris Hayes Very good interview on New York Times "Sway" with Cara Swisher: NYT/Sway: Anthony Fauci on the Lab Leak Theory and Emailing Mark Zuckerberg https://nyti.ms/2UfIr4K The Hill: Poll: 61 percent say Fauci has been truthful to the best of his knowledge on COVID19 origins; Hitt 400,000/600,000 NPR Radio - 1A; The New Yorker:
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June 23, 2021 - Global - 179,000,000/3,900,000; USA - 33,400,000/600,000 Did an Instagram with Jennifer Garner on vaccines. She was wonderful as she was last time. We spoke of the vaccination of her 3 children. Cong. Stephen Scalise wants to hold a panel on the originals that would be a "set-up" to attack Francis Collins and me: 2021.06.22 Fauci Invite.pdf Here is the announcement of the "set-up" hearing. We would be crazy to honor it. The Panel 1 are a bunch of wackos: Select Subcommittee Republicans Announce Expert Witness Forum on COVID-19 Origins Forum to be held with expert witnesses on Tuesday, June 29 WASHINGTON--On Tuesday, June 29 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Ranking Member Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), and Select Subcommittee Republican lawmakers will hold a forum with expert witnesses to examine the origins of the coronavirus. For more than a year now, Republicans have repeatedly called on Democrats to investigate the mounting evidence showing the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) lab, but Democrats continue refusing to launch an investigation. "The left-wing media called it a 'fringe conspiracy theory,' Big Tech censored it, activists in white lab coats dismissed it and Democrats ignored it, but there is growing evidence Communist China started the pandemic, covered it up, and is responsible for the deaths of more than 600,000 Americans and millions more worldwide," said Scalise and Comer. "Despite Speaker Pelosi's efforts to create diversions and cover this up, the American people deserve the truth and are demanding accountability, and House Republicans will insist on getting these answers. "The House Democrat majority's refusal to follow the science, listen to the experts, and investigate the origins of COVID-19 is a dereliction of their duty. Next week, Select Subcommittee Republicans will hold a forum with expert witnesses to advance our investigation into the origins of COVID-19," added Scalise and Comer. "The American people deserve to know the truth, even if Washington Democrats refuse to seek it." VID-19 p.m. ET rs Center It was recently reported that three researchers from the Wuhan lab became ill with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and sought hospital care in November 2019. Additionally, Dr. Fauci's recently released emails from February 2020 reveal that scientists raised the possibility of a lab leak and also expressed concern the virus appeared to be engineered. WHAT: Select Subcommittee expert forum entitled "Led By Science: The COVID-19 Origin Story" WHEN: Tuesday, June 29 at 12:00 p.m. ET WHERE: HVC-215, Capitol Visitors Center WHO: Witness Panel I ● The Honorable Brett P. Giroir, former Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Admiral Giroir brings firsthand knowledge about the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 testing czar, he oversaw creating a nationwide testing apparatus from scratch which was made particularly difficult by China's lack of transparency. Admiral Giroir will also discuss the investigatory failures of the World Health Organization and why a U.S.-led origins investigation is vital. ● Dr. David Asher, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute: Dr. Asher has decades of national security experience and most recently led the U.S. Department of State's COVID-19 origins investigation. His testimony will provide inside information into the origins investigation and the role of the Chinese government's efforts to block a thorough and impartial investigation. ● Dr. Richard Muller, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of California Berkeley: Dr. Muller is an acclaimed scientist that used his own research to study available data in attempting to determine the origins of COVID-19. He recently penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal pointing out there is strong evidence COVID-19 was developed in a laboratory using gain-offunction acceleration. ● Dr. Steven Quay, Founder, Atossa Therapeutics: Dr. Quay is one of a growing number of scientists dedicated to finding the origins of COVID-19. He has conducted his own research using the publicly available viral data and reached conclusions apart from outside influence. He brings significant scientific expertise to this endeavor including over 87 patents and hundreds of published scientific articles. Member Panel available HERE. 400,000/601,000 ● The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Member of Congress ● The Honorable Michael McCaul, Member of Congress ● The Honorable Devin Nunes, Member of Congress ● The Honorable Mike Gallagher, Member of Congress Witness Panel II (invited but hasn't yet accepted) ● The Honorable Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health ● Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ● Dr. David Hassell, Chairman, P3CO WATCH: A livestream will be available HERE. PRESS: WSJ: Dr. Fauci and the Mask Disaster; CBS "This Morning" with Anthony Mason; NBC "Today" with Savannah Guthrie; Month of Action interviews with influencers on TikTok and Instagram (one with Jennifer Garner)
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June 24, 2021 - Global - 179,000,000/3,900,000; USA - 33,400,000/600,000 I had another terrific day with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. We flew to Florida from Andrews with all the bells and whistles of motorcades to visit two cities: Osceola County near Orlando and Tampa Bay. We have become somewhat of a good team together in visiting with the sites that were administering the vaccine, mingling with both the people who are being vaccinated as well as the staff who were doing the vaccinating. At each stop both doctor Biden and I made remarks and spoke with the press. Of particular note was the visit to Tampa Bay where we met with Mr. Jeff Vinik, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning , the hockey team that would be playing the 7th game of the semifinals for the Stanley Cup finals the following day. They gave both Jill and I our own jerseys with our names on them. We gave our speech on the ice of the arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning plays. I am getting to be quite good friends with Jill and I think that our relationship will strengthen as we continue working together. 400,000/600,000 to
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June 24, 2021 - Had a great day with FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden - I flew on one of the presidential planes with Dr. Jill Biden, assembling at the White House for the motorcade to Andrews Air Force Base. Brett Rowland came with me. We went to Florida for a two city stop to promote vaccines. The first stop was at Osceola County near Orlando. The next stop was at Tampa Bay where we did a vaccine promotion event right on the ice in the arena that is used by the Tampa Bay Lightning team. Of note, tomorrow the team plays the 7th game of a seven game semifinal before the Stanley Cup finals . They will be playing the New York Islanders. We had a nice conversation with Jeff Vinik and his family. Jeff is the owner of the hockey team and he gave me a team jersey with my name on it as well as a team jersey to Jill with her name on it. It was a very productive day as both Jill and I gave speeches at each of the locations and encourage the workers there and the people lined up to get vaccinated. No doubt Jill and I are now developing a very strong relationship, as we really have developed a comfortable and warm rapport with each other.