Kristian G. Andersen
@kgandersen.bsky.social
Infectious diseases & genomics. Immunologist in (voluntary) exile. Minimal sarcasm. Fierce HOA (Hater of Acronyms). Personal account - opinions expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Exclusive: Sen. Rand Paul published Anthony Fauci's diary entries without redacting the names or medical details of over 20 people, including people with cancer, Ebola or HIV. www.notus.org/health-scien...
Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed Peoples’ Medical Histories
The Republican senator’s office published over 20 individuals’ health information without redaction.
notus.org
Since this has been coming up again, just a reminder of what I actually said (in public, no less) back in early 2020. Here's just one example from: www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/sci....
One thing is to disagree on what is likely going to be true in future, however, it is a different thing entirely, to disagree on what we all know to be true of the past. See, COVID-19. See, climate change. I somehow doubt AI and/or social media will help in this discourse.
Today is the first Tuesday of the month, my (self-imposed) blog posting day -- I wrote about accusations of coverup and conspiracies, thrown without any evidence, in the context of the recent release of private documents by Rand Paul #covidorigin
Conspiracies and coverups
There is no evidence for a lab origin of SARS-CoV-2, so commenters default to meta-discourse and accuse scientists of coverups, for which there is no evidence either. So far, available data and scient...
pandemonium.hypotheses.org
Zach found this recording recently, and it's a crucial piece of evidence that thoroughly refutes a theory put forward by Alina Chan, DRASTIC, and even, according to what we read in Vanity Fair, the FBI. Check his thread! #covidorigin
Zach Hensel@zachhensel.bsky.social · 5d agoIt's a public webinar that Zhengli Shi delivered on March 9, 2020, before a global pandemic had been declared. In this clip from the talk, Shi delineates 4 sarbecovirus lineages. The 8 samples in "Lineage 4" are the ones in the figure most closely related to SARS-CoV-2.
"Scientists discovered and developed the COVID vaccines that brought the pandemic to an end. It’s the anti-vaxxers, not the scientific community, who should stand indicted in the light of 2026." This should be the conservative stance btw, from former Bush speech writer @davidfrum.bsky.social
Kristian G. Andersen@kgandersen.bsky.social · 5d ago"Trump’s record of dishonesty, callousness, and selfishness during the pandemic is a documented reality. The imputations against Fauci are mostly fantasies". www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"Trump’s record of dishonesty, callousness, and selfishness during the pandemic is a documented reality. The imputations against Fauci are mostly fantasies". www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Anthony Fauci Is Not the Villain in This Story
The doctor was thrust into his pandemic-leadership role because of Trump’s deadly dereliction of duty.
theatlantic.com
The #Ebola #Bundibugyo outbreak in DRC's Ituri province is now the 2nd largest in known history, having overtaken the 2018-2020 outbreak in North-Kivu & Ituri in a matter of 2.5 months. Hard to say how big this one will get. Can't see it ending anytime soon.
Since this has been popping up again... www.npr.org/2026/07/29/g...
Animal spillover? Lab leak? What the science says about the origins of COVID-19
The release of Dr. Anthony Fauci's pandemic diaries has rekindled the debate over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Here's how scientists have weighed in.
npr.org
Ebola may have been spreading for months in the DRC before anyone recognized it. A new reconstruction suggests the outbreak was already widespread in the gold-mining town of Mongbwalu by January. It wasn’t officially declared until 15 May. Why did no-one raise the alarm? My story for @science.org 🧪
EXCLUSIVE: Congo’s Ebola epidemic started at least 4 months before it was detected
A remote mining town gripped by fear saw hundreds of suspected cases before the government declared an outbreak, report says
science.org
“But that matters little when the lessons and innovations of that successful response have been actively un-learned, and the institutions that led it have been destroyed.” open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...
Blame Elon Musk and Donald Trump for the Out-of-Control Ebola Crisis
Jeremy Konyndyk, who helped lead the U.S. response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, writes about the deadly consequences DOGE's dismantling of USAID has had, as Congo struggles to contain the virus.
open.substack.com
Given the recent COVID-19 origins revival and Fauci witchhunt, just a reminder that I have written a book that answers to the best of our knowledge the question; and dismantles the many disinformation campaigns around the various lab leak narratives. Free access: open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
Lab Leak Fever
The COVID-19 Origin Theory that Sabotaged Science and Society
open.substack.com
This is the GOP Conspiracy Two-Step: Create an environment where experts need to worry about bad faith attacks from political actors, then use the expert's moves to protect against the bad faith attacks as proof of a conspiracy. You can't win against it.
Ernie Piper@whoisernie.bsky.social · 7d agoZeynep Tufekci is still completely insane over the lab leak idea. "There is a conspiracy to cover this up" is not evidence for "covid was a bioweapon that escaped from a lab". It could also be evidence for my theory, "please stop talking about this stupid idea"
The evidence supports the alt theory of a spillover from animals sold at the market. Spillovers also happen to account for all other novel infectious disease epidemics. I'm tired of writing about this since I'm tired of the harassment. Pretty much every science writer I know feels the same.
"politicizing science remains a vital political tactic." "Wednesday’s hearing was another example of how criticizing scientists has become an important outlet for the [Republican] party – and where relitigating the Covid crisis justifies skepticism of a broad range of science."
Prof Sheena Cruickshank@sheencr.bsky.social · 7d agoGood summary of what the insanity that was the Fauci hearing yesterday was about- basically a senators vendetta against Fauci and overall an attack on science versus conspiracy theories. An absolute shocking display from the Republican senators involved.
Dr.Anthony Fauci is a good man who deserves a peaceful retirement for his many decades of hardwork and leadership. It is a disgrace he isn't being extended this bare minimum of grace.
Nautilus: Anthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the Helm By Bob Grant @nautil.us bit.ly/4wpacFd
Anthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the Helm
Anthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the Helm: Recently published notes from the former COVID czar paint a picture of a scientist grappling with a dynamic situation
bit.ly
Honestly, the mainstream press is among the most gullible and easily manipulated... Look at the headlines, none of which describes the actual reality of somebody refusing to participate in a partisan witchhunt, irrespective of their idiotic questions (bill gates, IVM, vaccine, lockdowns, origins)
I will be following Anthony Fauci's hearing today, and I will post comments in this thread with the hashtag #faucihearing. Feel free to mute it! ▫️1/🧵 www.hsgac.senate.gov
Guardian: Trump administration needs to stop ‘public harassment’ of Fauci and scientists, open letter says by Anna Betts @theguardian.com @annabetts.bsky.social bit.ly/4g0ra6Y
Trump administration needs to stop ‘public harassment’ of Fauci and scientists, open letter says
Letter, published before Anthony Fauci will appear before Congress, accuses Republicans of ‘waging a war on individual scientists’
bit.ly
"Neither HHS nor Paul’s committee alerted Fauci ahead of time that they had obtained his diary and that they planned to publish it in full, according to a person familiar with the matter." This is so vile
Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul’s long-running battle returns to the Hill | CNN Politics
Even before the US enacted a national shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci pondered whether he might have testified before Congress more than any other official.
edition.cnn.com
I am sick of some media uncritically repeating Rand Paul's misrepresentation of Fauci's journal about the Huanan market. In late Jan 2020, it was a common commentary that the market may not be the origin of the outbreak, b/c of a Lancet paper on early cases ▫️1/6 www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
I didn’t love Craig Spencer’s ‘embrace MAHA’ column in The Atlantic. Instead of canceling my friend, I called him. Then I wrote this line-by-line rebuttal to his piece. It's live, so please check it out and let me know what you think... open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
I didn’t love Craig Spencer’s ‘embrace MAHA’ column in The Atlantic. Instead of canceling my friend, I called him.
Even the sharpest disagreements can be civil. Here's my line-by-line response to Dr. Craig Spencer's argument for embracing MAHA.
open.substack.com
The argument is always the same: Rather than judge MAHA supporters on what they do, we should judge them on what they say. This is dangerously uninformed about how conspiracy movements work.
We need to see MAHA as the product of a political economy designed to sow doubt and undermine public institutions, rather than a solution to the structural forces that have created a sense of abandonment and dislocation in too many communities and left them vulnerable to bad faith actors.
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 2w agoA lot of people in public health believe that MAHA is “nothing more than a subversive anti-vaccine, anti-science syndicate,” but the movement is an opportunity that the public-health sector “cannot afford to squander,” Craig Spencer argues:
There is absolutely nothing novel about Americans wanting access to healthy food and better regulations. To imply that public health doesn't consider those concerns is absolutely mind-blowing.
