Jeri Jacquin

Coming from director/producer John Hoffman, Janet Tobias and National Geographic Films is the story of a man who is the most recognizable in the world with FAUCI.

Growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, he was raised to not be intimidated by anything. As of 2020, he continues to hold that to be true. He believes being totally honest with the American public on the outbreak of COVID-19. He is not a scientist that has hidden in the shadows spending the last 30+ years as the director for the National Institute of Health.

His schooling included learning that doing for others is the way to a good life. A graduate of Cornell, Fauci would end up at the NIH during the Vietnam war. He learned that an impact to large groups of people is more important than private practice, so he chose the path that would help others.

Not time for much else, family and friends are surprised when he meets Christine Grady and later became his wife. In 1981, MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) put out an article about a strange pneumonia. Fauci became aware that there was a new disease that needed someone to research it even though his colleagues thought he was chasing nothing. This disease would become known as AIDS.

Talking about the epidemic today still affects Dr. Fauci remembering the human toll that came with the disease. Evening dealing with Ebola during the Obama administration, he pushed to get ahead of the outbreak and was listened to by the administration leading out country. When it hit the United States, it was Dr. Fauci that kept straight to the facts and not hysteria.

Now, it is 2020 and the Corona virus has landed in the United States and the alarm bells are ringing dangerously loud. Fauci sees pictures of New York as an empty place and knows what must be done. Vaccines kick into high gear and Fauci knows that ever step must be taken carefully, and New York had to be shut down.

Quickly clinical trials start for a vaccine for COVID-19 and could be a real option for stopping the spread and stop the pandemic. The technology allows the NIH to be swift in working on the vaccine that could go into testing. Working with a task force in the White House, press conferences were muddled and the information that the public needed would be unheard.

Drugs being touted by people and the administration without testing became louder than the facts. Now it is Dr. Fauci vs. the administration, a scientist who is working night and day for an answer and a person who is clueless and believes just about anything.

But with giving the information, Fauci comes under fire by those who refuse to listen to the science. There are those who turn him into a celebrity and there are those who would vilify him.

Fauci finds it amusing and interesting but can not take it seriously even though he admits there could be some fun in it.

Then there is a period of time where Fauci goes silent, and he is encouraged to start a Twitter account. He just remembers what happened when he saw the reaction of people both positive and negative during the AIDS crisis. Fauci learned from that struggle that fighting for everyone and understood the value of it. He does not see the same result with Covid-19 but does see that we will get through it despite the opposition.

Dr. Fauci speaks about his family and how they are supportive in the wake of what is very difficult for them all. As we all have separated from friends and family, he has done the same thing while staying levelheaded and remembering what is important. “Taking care of yourself and not taking care of the world is just folly” – Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Others speaking is daughter Jenny Fauci, Global Health Reporter The New York Times Apoorva Mandavilli, Dr. Francis Collins, Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Bill Gates, Bono, Activist David Barr, Former President George W. Bush, Aids Activist Wakefield, and Aids Activist Robert Vazquez Pacheco.

National Geographic is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society. They support a diverse, international community of changemakers — National Geographic Explorers — who use the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. For more information, please visit www.nationalgeographic.com.

First of all, I must say that there is something special about this man in more ways than just being Dr. Fauci. As a swearer myself, to hear that come out of his mouth makes me laugh with the thought ‘see, he is just like us!’. The second thing is the sadness seeing how he is trying to help the world, yet he sees the fear that his family must go through. His family now sees once again the threats but with an intensity that is heartbreaking.

Hearing certain news outlets bash him had such a ridiculous level of ridiculousness that I can not even comprehend their minds (not that I would ever want to). Here is a man who has spent his entire life dedicated to eradicating diseases and Covid-19 is no exception. Dr. Fauci jumps into action and because there are those who want to make a name for themselves, he has to shout louder to save those who want to be saved.

FAUCI is a up front, and no holds barred look at the history of a man who has become the center of knowledge and a scientist to believe in. It is interesting that there is a person in the documentary who says that before Covid-19, the average person probably could not name a scientist – now, they can.

He does not take credit for everything; he tells the story as it happened and how what those who worked hard are helping us live through the nightmare that is today. This is not a one time shot for Fauci, it is a lifetime desire to be a public servant and help the world so we can get back to normal – yet he will continue on his path to tackle the emerging infections that are here and in the future.

In the end – from the frontline of one pandemic to the frontline of another!

Comments

comments