Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel asked Fauci when the last time was that he spoke to Trump. The infectious disease expert revealed that Trump contacted him as he was preparing to leave the hospital after getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Oct. 2020. “We may have had a conversation maybe once after that. But the one I remember very well [was] when he called me up when he was in the hospital and he was just essentially recovering,” Fauci said. “He was impressed with the fact that he got the monoclonal antibody. And he felt it really did him some real good. And he wanted to just call me up and tell me about that.” For more advice from the infectious disease expert, check out The 2 Places Dr. Fauci Still Won’t Go After Vaccination. Trump received a monoclonal antibody treatment made by Regeneron not long after he tested positive for COVID. “Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explained in a statement in Feb. 2021. In regards to the novel coronavirus, they’re “specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, designed to block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells.” In Mar. 2021, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. released data on its successful phase 3 trial of REGEN-COV, a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies (REGN10933 and REGN10987). The trial data showed that the treatment reduced hospitalization and death by 70 percent in non-hospitalized COVID patients. REGEN-COV also “significantly shortened” the length of patients’ COVID symptoms by four days. And for more on where COVID numbers are worsening, This One State Should “Be Concerned” About COVID, Doctor Warns. Kimmel asked Fauci whether Trump “felt like we didn’t need to keep working on the vaccine because we have the solution,” meaning monoclonal antibody treatment. But Fauci responded by commending the Trump administration in regards to the development of the COVID vaccine.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb “To give credit to the former administration—they put together Operation Warp Speed, which was really important in getting things rolling,” Fauci said. “Right now, we’re in the implementation stage, which is going really, really successfully, in vaccines.” The Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, which was active between May 2020 and Feb. 2021, was a partnership started by the U.S. government to accelerate the creation and distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments for the disease. It was later replaced with the White House COVID-19 Response Team when Biden stepped into office. And for more up-to-date COVID news, sign up for our daily newsletter. Donald Trump also spoke out in a recent interview about his efforts behind the COVID vaccine. Speaking with Candace Owens on her podcast Candace on May 4, Trump said that the U.S. “wouldn’t have a vaccine” if it weren’t for him. “It wouldn’t have been here for three to five years,” he told Owens of the vaccine, as Newsweek reported. “It probably wouldn’t have happened at all.” “They praise Fauci and yet Fauci worked for me, so well, why wouldn’t we be praised?” Trump asked. “They say he did such a great job but he worked for me.” And for more on how your state is doing with vaccinations, find out How Close Your State Is to Being Fully Vaccinated, Data Shows.
