Dr. Fauci says the ‘undeniable effects of racism’ made COVID-19 worse

By Teddy Grant Published: May 17, 2021

Dr. Fauci says the ‘undeniable effects of racism’ made COVID-19 worse

In this Jan. 21, 2021 file photo, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Fauci announced the National Institutes of Health is launching research to understand the causes of lingering brain fog, breathing problems and malaise reported by many recovering coronavirus patients. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Charles Blow sat down with the country’s leading expert on infectious disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to talk about the CDC lifting its mask mandate for the fully vaccinated and the racial disparities that COVID-19 has had on communities

“The social determinants of health were in place decades and decades and decades and influenced Brown and Black people from birth.” Dr. Fauci said.

Blow and Fauci also discussed the similar health disparities in COVID-19 and HIV among Black and Brown communities.

“This is a glaring failing in society, which is the disparities that we see,” Fauci says. “We have two major global pandemics that we’ve had to deal with in my professional lifetime. One of them is HIV and the other is COVID-19.”