Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, on Nov. 22, 2022. (Patrick Semansky / AP)
The COVID-19 pandemic has carried a key lesson for public health officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday: When talking to Americans, be clear that science is often a moving target.
"What we knew [about COVID-19] in January was very different from what we knew at the end of January, the beginning of February, and then very different from March," Fauci, who is stepping down next month after 38 years at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told CNN's Jake Tapper.
"Hopefully, we could have been more on top of appreciating the dynamic nature of how things change, thinking that it wasn't aerosol spread in the beginning, and then you find out it is aerosol spread. Thinking that, well, symptomatic people spread it, and then you find out that 50% to 60% of the transmissions occur from someone who has no symptoms."
Many Americans see these changes as signs of scientists "flip-flopping," he said, when in reality "it's that the data are evolving in a very dynamic way."
Fauci announced in August that he would be stepping down from NIAID and as chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden "to pursue the next chapter of my career."
Asked about Republican lawmakers' intent to hold hearings on the origins of the coronavirus and any relation to US funding of viral research, Fauci told Tapper that it would be "essentially molecularly impossible" for the viruses involved in funding from the National Institutes of Health to turn into SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
Experts agree that the virus almost certainly jumped into humans from an animal market in China but that they may never know for sure. "It's possible that there was a lab leak," Fauci said. "But if you look at the viruses that the NIH funded -- and it was a very small grant, $120,000, $130,000 a year of granting -- to study bat viruses in a surveillance way to see what's out there. ... If you look at those viruses and you look at what was done with the viruses, it would be essentially molecularly impossible for those viruses to turn into SARS-CoV-2 because they are so evolutionarily different."
Fauci criticized China's controversial zero-Covid policy, saying shutdowns "should always be a temporary phenomenon, not a long-range strategy," and should be done with an end point in mind, such as buying time to secure PPE or provide vaccinations. "When you want to shut down in order to interrupt immediately a process that's going on, like the spread of infection, there should be a purpose to it."
As for what's next for him, Fauci said he wouldn't enter any negotiations for future roles until next year -- but would probably be taking in a New York Yankees game in the spring.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
Dominic Barton, the former global managing director of McKinsey & Company, says he had no involvement in federal contracts awarded to the firm in recent years.
Australia is removing the monarchy from its bank notes. The nation's new $5 bill will feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam has seen her shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A long-time CBC radio producer who was the victim of a random assault in Toronto last week has died, the public broadcaster confirms.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
Top European Union officials arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian officials as rescue crews dug through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine struck by a Russian missile, killing at least three people and wounding about 20 others.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam has seen her shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.
On CTVNews.ca and YouTube: Health journalist Avis Favaro joins our Trend Line podcast, for an in-depth episode dedicated to the growing crises facing the Canadian health-care system.
Two RCMP officers are accused of manslaughter in the 2017 death of an Indigenous man in Prince George, B.C., prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Higher grocery prices are expected to hit stores across Canada soon as a blackout on price increases over the holiday season comes to an end.
Nearly a year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, community organizers say there is still work to be done to help the thousands of Ukrainian refugees looking to start a new life in Canada while coping with the hardships they've faced coming here.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Thursday hours after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel, the military said, the latest in an uptick of violence in the region.
Top European Union officials arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian officials as rescue crews dug through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine struck by a Russian missile, killing at least three people and wounding about 20 others.
A couple abandoned their baby at an airport check-in desk in Tel Aviv, Israel after arriving without a ticket for the child.
Israeli aircraft carried out several raids at a militant site in the Gaza Strip early Thursday, the Israeli military said, hours after Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel's south, raising already heightened tensions under the country's new ultranationalist government.
North Korea on Thursday threatened the 'toughest reaction' to the United States' expanding joint military exercises with South Korea to counter the North's growing nuclear weapons ambitions, claiming that the allies were pushing tensions to an 'extreme red line.'
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
Dominic Barton, the former global managing director of McKinsey & Company, says he had no involvement in federal contracts awarded to the firm in recent years.
Candice Bergen, the former interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, is resigning from Parliament.
On CTVNews.ca and YouTube: Health journalist Avis Favaro joins our Trend Line podcast, for an in-depth episode dedicated to the growing crises facing the Canadian health-care system.
Lawmakers in Finland approved amendments Wednesday that will make it substantially easier for people to change their legally recognized gender in the Nordic country.
New guidelines on long-term care services by the Health Standards Organization say residents should receive at least four hours of direct care each day. If you or a loved one are living in long-term care, we want to hear from you.
After a tiny radioactive capsule went missing in the Australian outback, an expert in Canada says the likelihood of the same happening in this country is unlikely, given our strong regulations governing the handling of radioactive materials.
Chinese scientists have successfully cloned three 'super cows' that can produce an unusually high amount of milk, state media reported, hailing it as a breakthrough for China's dairy industry to reduce its dependence on imported breeds.
An archeological team from Saint Mary's University will travel to France this summer to use ground-penetrating radar and other technology to assist a United States defence agency recover and identify military personnel missing since the Second World War.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
Canadian Actor Ryan Reynolds dropped by a Toronto college on Wednesday, surprising students in the midst of a school project.
Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, Iron Maiden, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, Sheryl Crow and the late George Michael are the 2023 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, reflecting a mix of country, soul, hip-hop, metal, pop, rap-rock and grunge.
Global energy giant Shell said Thursday that its annual profits doubled to a record high last year as oil and natural gas prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine. London-based Shell Plc posted adjusted earnings of $39.9 billion for 2022 in its financial results for the final three months of the year.
Türkiye on Thursday slammed a group of Western countries which temporarily closed down their consulates in Istanbul over security concerns, accusing them of waging 'psychological warfare"' and attempting to wreck Türkiye's tourism.
Higher grocery prices are expected to hit stores across Canada soon as a blackout on price increases over the holiday season comes to an end.
As Black History Month gets underway, Canada Post has unveiled a new stamp honouring Chloe Cooley, a young Black woman who was known to challenge her enslavement in the late 18th century.
The rising demand for ayahuasca has led to hundreds of psychedelic churches in the U.S., which advocates say are protected from prosecution by a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The U.K. Supreme Court says people who live in glass houses have a right to privacy too.
A team of preteen Ukrainian refugees that have been scattered across Europe by war arrived Wednesday in Quebec City, where they'll get the chance to compete in a renowned hockey tournament.
John Herdman is staying put. After a morning of speculation fuelled by a New Zealand report that the Canada men's soccer coach had agreed to take over the 105th-ranked All Whites, Herdman and Canada Soccer put out the fire with a statement Wednesday.
Brittney Griner's return to the WNBA this summer after being traded in a dramatic prisoner swap in December with Russia has collided with free agency, creating potential travel complications for the league out of safety concerns for her.
A good winter tire will always outperform an all-season tire in snowy, icy driving conditions and be the safer alternative. Edmunds' experts explain the importance of winter tires and offer advice on when to use them and how much you should pay.
The U.S. Justice Department has requested documents from Tesla related to its Autopilot and 'Full Self-Driving' features, according to a regulatory filing.
Europe is taking another big step toward cutting its energy ties with Russia, banning imports of diesel fuel and other products made from crude oil in Russian refineries. The European Union ban takes effect Feb. 5 following its embargo on coal and most oil from Russia.
