IN HIS OWN WORDS: Dr. Fauci Sings a Song to Our Subway

“The Metropolitan Transportation Authority today released a public-service message on COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.”

That would be the dry way of putting what is in the embedded video, which is a moving tribute to the circulatory system of the city by a gravel-voiced national hero and former New Yorker. In the two-minute video, Fauci recounts the train rides of his boyhood and then pivots to exhort transit workers to get vaccinated with a bit of love: “And so since I care about you all, I strongly encourage all MTA workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.”

It is simply beautiful.

The full text is below.

Greetings to you all. My name is Tony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

As someone who grew up in Brooklyn, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority has a special place in my heart. The New York City Subway system is embedded in my brain. I took the subway every day to get from my home in Brooklyn to and from Regis High School in Manhattan. I would take either the BMT, what was then called the West End line, when I lived in Bensonhurst, or what was then called the Sea Beach line when I moved to Dyker Heights. I would take it from there to 14th Street in Union Square where I would pick up the IRT Lexington Avenue Express to 86th and Lex to get to Regis on 85th between Madison and Park. And so I can relate warmly to you folks who played an important role in my younger days as a New Yorker.

And so since I care about you all, I strongly encourage all MTA workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. This pandemic has taken so much from us, and vaccination is the best way for us to fight back and help restore our lives. The U.S. authorized coronavirus vaccines, one made by Pfizer, the other by Moderna, are safe and they’re free, and they’re about 95 percent effective at preventing adults of all ages from getting sick. The sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner we can get our lives back and our country back on track.

Throughout the U.S. pandemic, you have kept New York City’s public transit moving. That is why you are essential workers at the front of the line to receive a coronavirus vaccine. Take advantage of it, get vaccinated. To be fully protected, you need one shot plus a booster shot a few weeks later. This may save your life.

I wish you all the best. Take care of yourselves. And even after you are vaccinated, stay safe by continuing to follow public health guidelines of wearing a mask. Thank you.