As the nation continues to grapple with COVID-19 amidst its campaigns to get as much people vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned citizens that climate change can bring forth more COVID-like viruses around the world. Summit News reported that the chief medical advisor to the president virtually sat down with NBC News Sunday host Chuck Todd to discuss the possibilities of these COVID-like viruses spreading across the world due to climate change.
Dr. Fauci and Todd argued that there must be a "global health security network" among nations to move forward with better preparation against COVID-like viruses that threaten the safety of humans across the world, viruses that may come about due to climate change. Todd commented, "I know there's a lot of folks who think that due to climate change and due to the globalization in general, it's inevitable, we're going to deal with more and more viruses like this."
Dr. Fauci agreed, saying that there has to be "a better global health security network of interconnectivity, of communication, of transparency." The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director argued that there must be a "continued investment in the science" and a "global" way of interacting with others. He said, "A global pandemic requires a global response."
It's worth noting that their statements come after China expressed its plans to push the World Health Organization to let it create and manage a global COVID "vaccine passport" system, one that will allow the Chinese Communist Party to monitor vaccinated people's whereabouts and travels - like it does with Chinese citizens in country.
It's also worth noting that their statements come after Bill Gates' announcement that there has to be a "global alert system" that will help people respond to "the next pandemic."
In February, Discovery Magazine reported on new research from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology that links the effects of climate change such as "more sunlight, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide" with the expansion of "bat-friendly forest habitats in Myanmar, Laos, and southern China," where COVID-19 originated.
They also reported on how the U.S. Agency for International Development found that 75% of all "new, emerging, or re-emerging diseases affecting humans at the beginning of the 21st century are zoonotic," which means they originated in animals. It begs the question as to when the next round of COVID-like viruses will emerge, something scientists can occupy themselves with after this current pandemic ends.
The statements of Dr. Fauci have come at a critical time when the country is just getting back on its feet with the COVID response. In fact, his statements on more COVID-like viruses appearing because of climate change is a stark contrast to Joe Biden's more optimistic approach.
A new statement released by the White House COVID-19 Response Team revealed that up to 30% of adults and nearly two thirds of seniors have been inoculated with the first of two COVID-19 vaccines. On average, the U.S. is now successfully administering an average of 2.4 million vaccines per day. In addition, up to 37.45 million people in the United States have received two doses, meaning they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. President Biden is optimistic that vaccines will be available to all adults by May 1.
It was Dr. Fauci himself who said in the White House statement that there is a decline in deaths from COVID-19, with the average now down to about 1,200 per day. So for him to reignite fears of more COVID-like viruses emerging from climate change is quite pre-emptive and may add unnecessary fear and stress on citizens who have not yet been inoculated.
