By Paul Farrell
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is on his second course of Paxlovid after testing positive for Covid-19.
According to Pfizer's own data, the drug is limited in its ability to combat Covid-19 in a vaccinated person.
The CDC issued a warning about the possibility of Covid-19 rebound symptoms after taking Paxlovid in May 2022.
The warning noted that in none of the reported rebound cases did the patients suffer a severe case of Covid-19, although Fauci described their symptoms as "much worse."
A UC San Diego study found that patients experiencing rebound symptoms from Covid suffered because Paxlovid wasn't reaching enough infected cells.
At the same press conference where he announced the rebound, Fauci called for an "aggressive" national vaccination campaign
Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed on Tuesday that he is experiencing "Covid rebound" symptoms after being treated with Paxlovid.
Paxlovid, a drug hailed as America's silver bullet against COVID-19 by some health officials and even President Joe Biden, may have no effect on people who are already vaccinated, according to data from its manufacturer Pfizer.
Fauci, 81, announced the news while speaking remotely at the Foreign Policy Global Health Forum.
Earlier this month, Fauci tested positive for the virus with mild symptoms, including fatigue. When his symptoms worsened slightly, Fauci began a five-day course of Paxlovid.
After that treatment, Fauci said he tested negative for the virus for three consecutive days. He decided to get tested again on the fourth day. The result was positive.
In May, the Centers for Disease Control issued a formal warning about a resurgence of Covid-19 as a result of a course of Paxlovid.
The agency stated that some patients who had been prescribed Paxlovid experienced a recurrence of symptoms or tested positive for Covid between two and eight days after recovery.
The CDC announcement stated that there was insufficient data to draw a conclusion about the cause of the rebound. The agency noted that in none of the reported rebound cases did the patients experience a severe relapse.
In his announcement about the Covid rebound, Fauci said his symptoms were "much worse" after testing positive for the second time.
According to a study conducted on June 22 by the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, the rebound symptoms of Covid-19 after treatment with Paxlovid are due to an insufficient amount of the drug reaching the infected cells to stop all viral replication.
The study refers to this as a lack of exposure to the drug.
The day after this study was published, Pfizer released data from the phase 2/3 trial of Paxlovid.
The data analyzed Paxlovid's ability to prevent hospitalization or death based on a person's vaccination status and individual risk profile.
It was discovered that a fully vaccinated person with little personal risk had little to gain from using the drug.
Paxlovid should be used by a person who has tested positive for Covid to limit symptoms and prevent them from becoming so severe as to require intensive medical attention.
The drug received emergency use authorization in late 2021.
Biden championed it during his 2022 State of the Union address as one of the keys to the United States' response to Covid, and even offered it free of charge to anyone who tests positive for the virus.
In the 2022 State of the Union address, Biden said: 'If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90%.'
'I've ordered more pills than anyone else in the world. Pfizer is working overtime to get one million pills this month and more than double that next month.'
He announced the "Test to Treat" program, in which Americans who tested positive for the virus at pharmacies across the country could quickly obtain drug treatment at no cost.
The federal government even began deploying "Test to Treat" centers across the country, with Rhode Island launching the nation's first in late May.
Under this program, any American, regardless of their vaccination status or risk profile, would be offered the drugs if they wanted them.
In the same press conference where he announced his rebound from Covid-19, Fauci also said: "This is not the time to be at odds, it is the time to unite against the common enemy, which is the Covid-19 virus."
The Foreign Policy Global Health public forum is "a platform for global health experts to discuss the most pressing issues and developing trends in international public health," according to the organization.
Fauci also said he had the impression that there are more people with Covid-19 than are being publicly reported.
Fauci said, "I would say the number of COVID infections is at least a couple of times, if not more, than is reported... so many people I know personally have been infected, have been minimally symptomatic, and have never reported their antigen positivity."
The Covid czar also called for an "aggressive" public vaccination campaign, saying: "If you lock down just for the sake of locking down, sooner or later the virus will enter or re-enter the country."
He continued: 'The goal should be to carry out a very aggressive vaccination campaign for all citizens.'
It is still unclear where Fauci contracted the virus, but his announcement comes just two days after Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced a case of COVID.
The last time Fauci was seen in public was on June 3, when he served as the keynote speaker at the City College of New York graduation ceremony.
The diagnosis marked the second time in three weeks that Becerra, 64, had contracted it, after having been vaccinated and boosted.
Apparently, he had mild symptoms and will also remain in isolation.
This morning in Sacramento, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra tested positive for the COVID-19 antigen test. He is fully vaccinated and immune to COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms,' the agency said in a statement Monday.
'He will continue to perform his duties as HHS secretary, working in isolation.'
'Secretary Becerra has not been considered a close contact of President Biden or Vice President Harris, as defined by the CDC. The Secretary remains committed to his office duties from isolation and is eager to return to in-person meetings as soon as possible.'
'I still feel really good,' Fauci said last Thursday at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update on the federal government's ongoing response to COVID-19.
“I think I’m an example, given my age, of what we’re talking about today,” Fauci said. “I’m vaccinated. I’m doubly boosted. And I think if I weren’t, I most likely wouldn’t be speaking to you looking the way I do, I think, right now.” So everything’s fine with Fauci.