Covid-19 roundup: Af­ter Trump at­tack, doc­tors, re­searchers flock to de­fend Fau­ci; Philip Mor­ris-backed Med­ica­go be­gins dos­ing to­bac­co-based vac­cine

Days af­ter Trump ad­vi­sors sent around a doc­u­ment to re­porters that ap­peared de­signed to dis­cred­it An­tho­ny Fau­ci, 12,000 doc­tors, re­search sci­en­tists, and pub­lic health ex­perts signed a let­ter through the In­fec­tious Dis­ease So­ci­ety of Amer­i­ca de­fend­ing the na­tion’s long­time in­fec­tious dis­ease chief.

“Re­ports of a cam­paign to dis­cred­it and di­min­ish the role of Dr. Fau­ci at this per­ilous mo­ment are dis­turb­ing,” they wrote. “De­spite the na­tion’s vast re­sources and abil­i­ties, more than 135,000 peo­ple in Amer­i­ca have died from COVID-19 — more than any oth­er coun­try, and the num­bers keep ris­ing.“

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