Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) traveled to the USA to exchange ideas with scientists and government representatives on strategies for the further course of the corona crisis. Central topics of the trip should be the vaccination strategy for the fall, but also long-term perspectives in dealing with the virus, as the ministry said in advance.
In the capital, Washington, a meeting with Anthony Fauci, the White House pandemic adviser, was on the agenda. Lauterbach shared a photo on the Twitter news service and reported on a long conversation and praised his colleague for his precise analysis.
Fauci has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984 and served under seven presidents. After the outbreak of the corona pandemic, he gained great public recognition for his great expertise and his unvarnished assessments and became a real cult figure.
At the same time, he repeatedly drew the displeasure of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, who downplayed the danger posed by the corona virus for a long time. Fauci also faced hostility from right-wing circles and had to be placed under police protection. After taking office in January 2021, Biden made Fauci his top medical adviser in the fight against the corona pandemic. Fauci also wants to continue until the end of his current term (2025), he recently told the news portal Politico and the news channel CNN.
The immunologist also said that when he retires, the coronavirus and the lung disease caused by the virus, Covid-19, will not be gone. “I think we will (have to) live with it.” The 81-year-old had contracted the virus himself a month ago.
