Anthony Fauci warns he has nightmares about the ‘next inevitable pandemic’

Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that another pandemic is ‘inevitable’.

The former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) revealed in an editorial that his ‘worst nightmare’ came true with Covid and that he fears nothing was learned from a public health perspective during that outbreak to protect us.

Now that America has come out of the Covid crisis, he said his nightmare remains the same – another ’emerging pathogen of pandemic potential.’

The new challenge would be overcoming the lack of ‘corporate memory’, Fauci said, and not becoming ‘complacent’ when deaths ‘fall to an “acceptable” level.’

He recounted that in his role at the NIAID, he would often be asked what keeps him up at night, or what his worst nightmare was.

He said that before January 2020, this was ‘the possibility of the emergence of a brand-new pathogen, almost certainly a virus… capability of causing considerable morbidity and mortality.’

‘For the past three years, we have all been living my worst nightmare,’ he said.

The comment piece, published in Science Translational Medicine, included his key lessons from Covid that will help against the ‘next inevitable pandemic.’

He applauded the ‘accomplishment of having a safe and highly effective vaccine going into people’s arms—resulting in millions of lives saved’ and noted the contributions of Dr Drew Weissman and Dr Katalin Kariko, who laid the foundation of the development of highly effective mRNA vaccines against Covid.

Both scientists received Nobel Prizes in 2023 for their work.

Dr Fauci also addressed public health issues, admitting that America was ‘less successful’ in the public health arena than the science one.

He said the reasons for failures were ‘institutional weaknesses, such as the fractionated health care systems, to the disconnect between health care delivery and the public health infrastructure.’

Dr Fauci also admitted: ‘Inconsistencies in accepting and sustaining mitigation methods such as masking, distancing, and lockdowns caused confusion and lack of acceptance of public health recommendations.’ 

In the three years since Covid struck, Dr Fauci’s credibility has come under intense scrutiny after he exaggerated the effectiveness of vaccines to boost uptake, flip-flopped on face masks and pushed for lockdowns. 

In March 2020, when concern was rising globally over Covid, Fauci told Americans that there was ‘no need’ to wear a face mask. He insisted at the time that they may only help people ‘feel a little better’, and ‘might even block a droplet’ — but would not provide good protection.

Less than a month later, however, he urged all Americans to wear them and became an overnight face mask zealot, pushing for mandatory face coverings for children as young as two. 

He later admitted the reason the public were recommended not to wear masks initially was to save them for healthcare workers.