National Geographic hosted a virtual discussion featuring an exclusive conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a panel discussion with ABC News’ chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, National Geographic’s science editor Nsikan Akpan, National Geographic contributor Richard Conniff, and Washington D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser.
This virtual panel discussion reflected National Geographic’s August magazine cover story “How Devastating Pandemics Change Us And What We Can Learn From Them,” written by author and expert contributor, Richard Conniff.
National Geographic editor in chief and editorial director Susan Goldberg gave an introduction for the event, which was moderated by ABC News’ Deborah Roberts, an award-winning correspondent for “20/20, Nightline,” “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight with David Muir.”
The panelists discussed the current pandemic, including how past deadly outbreaks can help lead to medical breakthroughs and the important lessons we can learn from history. The Russian vaccine, back-to-school plans, election concerns, the divisiveness of the country and the desperate need for a national and unified Covid-19 response were also topics that were covered the panelists.
Fauci made headlines for his comments on the news out of Moscow that Russia has approved and is ready to market a coronavirus vaccine.
I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that.
Dr. Anthony Fauci,
Fauci also advised that in order to prevent future surges, Americans need to become more unified about following public health guidance and take sequential steps to return to schools and businesses. He believes that our current divisiveness is unnecessary and comes from a public misunderstanding over the purpose of the health guidelines.
Some people think that public health measures are kind of the obstacle to opening up. They’re not. They’re a gateway. There is a golden mean in there—based on the guidelines that we carefully put together—about how you can open the country safely.
, Dr. Anthony Fauci
Learn more about National Geographic’s continued coverage of COVID-19 or watch a full recording of the virtual discussion.