Fauci encourages MTA workers to get COVID vaccine in video

Talks about his early days in Brooklyn riding the subway

January 22, 2021 Jaime DeJesus, Brooklynreporter.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking to MTA employees, discusses the importance of getting vaccinated. Photo courtesy of MTA

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As the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to rise, Brooklyn native Dr. Anthony Fauci filmed a video encouraging MTA employees to get the vaccine when available in order for them to stay safe during the pandemic.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, talked about his commute during his younger years in Brooklyn.

“I took the subway every day to get from my home in Brooklyn to and from Regis High School in Manhattan,” he said, referring to himself as “Tony Fauci.”

“I would take either the BMT, what was then called the West End line (the now D train), when I lived in Bensonhurst, or what was then called the Sea Beach line (now the N train) when I moved to Dyker Heights. I would take it from there to 14th Street in Union Square where I would pick up the IRT Lexington Avenue Express to 86th and Lex to get to Regis [High School] on 85th between Madison and Park.”

During Fauci’s childhood, his family’s pharmacy, and apartment above, were on 13th Avenue and 83rd Street, Brooklyn, and Fauci delivered prescriptions on his bike.

In the video, Fauci spoke directly to MTA frontline employees, explaining how safe the vaccines have proven to be.

“This pandemic has taken so much from us, and vaccination is the best way for us to fight back and help restore our lives,” he said. “The U.S. authorized coronavirus vaccines, one made by Pfizer, the other by Moderna, are safe and they’re free, and they’re about 95 percent effective at preventing adults of all ages from getting sick. The sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner we can get our lives back and our country back on track.”

However, securing an appointment won’t be easy in the coming days.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city postponed more than 22,000 appointments this week due to vaccine shortages.

In related news, on Thursday Fauci announced renewed U.S. support for the World Health Organization after the Trump administration had pulled out of the global body. He elaborated that the U.S. will join the U.N. health agency’s efforts to bring vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to people in need, whether in rich or poor countries and will resume full funding and staffing support for WHO.