Tony's Diary Package — page 43

vitals thought it was still possible to stop the disease, but health authorities would have to know where it was to do that, and he said the lack of testing capacity was a huge obstacle. Test kits sent by the C.D.C. to states were flawed, and it has taken weeks to begin replacing them. And strict regulations from the Food and Drug Administration hampered outside labs' efforts to begin to do their own tests. But Dr. Fauci declined to join the chorus of blame against the C.D.C. "It's so easy to play Monday morning quarterback," he said. "Every element of the federal government was working full-speed to try to get this out and get things going." "What I really want to concentrate on is the idea of getting enough tests out there to get an evidence-based foundation of where we are in this country," he said. "Seattle is of concern. We need to know the extent of the community spread." At times in the past, Dr. Frieden said, Dr. Fauci may have over-promised a bit in his enthusiasm for projects of his that have yet to pan out -- an H.I.V. vaccine, and a universal flu vaccine that would provide long-lasting immunity to multiple strains so that people would not need another shot every year. "It's the role you have to play to get money from the Hill, and the role of a researcher to be eternally optimistic about a cure being around the corner," Dr. Frieden said. "He's very effective at asking for money from Congress." He is also a fair-minded colleague, Dr. Frieden added. During West Africa's Ebola epidemic in 2014, after two nurses treating a patient who had traveled to the United States became infected, the C.D.C. was harshly criticized for not having helped hospitals to prepare better. Dr. Fauci did not pile on. "Not everything we did was perfect," said Dr. Frieden, who then headed the C.D.C. "There are many people in similar roles as Tony who might have taken advantage of that for the interest of their institution, and Tony was always honorable." "If we did something wrong he was frank about that," he continued. "When we were getting attacked unfairly, he defended us. That's very unusual behavior in the bureaucratic situation you see in Washington sometimes. I think that's why Tony is so respected." During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, the U.S. government and its health agencies were a frequent target of criticism and protests, blamed for inaction on potential treatments and inadequate funding for research and medical care. When AIDS activists demonstrated outside his institute in 1988, demanding a chance to try experimental drugs, Dr. Fauci surprised the leaders by inviting them into his office. He wound up working with them to develop new ways to expand access without