Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci told reporters that Americans demonstrate what he called “selective amnesia” about the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the accessible text on STAT’s site, Fauci said that this selective recollection has distorted how people now think about pandemic mitigation measures, including masking and lockdowns.
The publicly visible portion of the article includes a photograph caption identifying Fauci at a June 3, 2024, congressional testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Beyond the quoted phrase “selective amnesia” and the general assertion that public perceptions of mitigation measures are distorted, the source provided here does not include additional direct quotes, details, or context from Fauci’s remarks.
This story is presented on STAT as a STAT+ exclusive. The web page clearly indicates that the substantive remainder of the article is behind the STAT+ subscriber paywall. Prominent subscription prompts and pricing options appear on the page, and readers are asked to log in or subscribe to unlock the full reporting.
Because the bulk of the reporting is gated, the accessible content on the page is limited to the headline, the lead observation attributed to Fauci, an image and caption, and standard site navigation and subscription material. Specific facts, anecdotes, extended quotes, or reporting that would appear in the paywalled portion were not reported in the source text provided for this rewrite.
The visible article also contains a few editorial and newsroom elements that frame the piece for STAT readers. Those include:
The article is credited to John Wilkerson, Washington correspondent, and is dated Sept. 3, 2026. Wilkerson is identified as the author of STAT’s D.C. Diagnosis newsletter; the page includes an invitation to subscribe to that newsletter and contact details for the reporter (an email address and a Signal handle). The page also reiterates that readers may receive the full piece only by subscribing to STAT+ or logging in if they already have an account.
Visible tags associated with the article on the STAT page include topics spanning policy and public health: Congress; Coronavirus; drug development; drug pricing; Medicaid; Pharmaceuticals; Policy; and public health. The page invites readers to view related STAT coverage and highlights other STAT+ stories and newsletters.
The subscription interface shown on the page lists several STAT+ plans and prices and emphasizes that the rest of the Fauci story is exclusive to subscribers. Exact subscriber-only content, expanded reporting, and additional quotations or analysis from Fauci were not reported in the source text made available for this rewrite.
Note on source limitations
This rewrite is limited to the content visible in the source provided. The STAT page indicates that substantive reporting is behind a paywall; therefore, many details that likely appear in the full STAT+ article were not available and are not included here. No facts, quotes, or specifics beyond the accessible excerpts and page elements have been added or inferred.