Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, but this year D.C. will observe a second major holiday: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day.
In honor of his 80th birthday, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a proclamation Wednesday establishing Dec. 24, 2020 as time to celebrate the longtime D.C. resident and our nation’s top infectious disease expert. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and has become a household name during the pandemic.
In her announcement, Bowser touted Fauci’s service to six presidents, his commitment to serve as President-elect Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, and his love for the Washington Nationals. She encouraged all Washingtonians to “join me in wishing him the happiest of birthdays.”
https://twitter.com/MayorBowser/status/1341835973722734592
Fauci has been a steady voice and reliable source of advice for many Americans throughout the pandemic. Bowser’s proclamation called him “a shining light in dark times for the nation, promoting truth over fear and giving Americans hope in their government.”
But the longtime Ward 3 resident — he has lived in Wesley Heights since 1977 — has also become quite the local celebrity.
A Washington Nationals superfan, Fauci threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day this year (And we forgive him for missing the plate by… a lot. The team didn’t have such a hot season either.) Fauci also did a Q&A with the Nationals’ face-of-the-franchise Ryan Zimmerman.
He also inspired the popular to-go cocktail the Fauci Pouchy, which helped a D.C. bar weather the economic crisis after the pandemic took hold in the spring.
Fauci joins a ton of other famous Washingtonians who got a day devoted to them in D.C. Last year, the city celebrate Taraji P. Henson Day in February and RBG Day on the late Supreme Court Justice’s 86th birthday in March.
We don’t know exactly how Fauci will celebrate this honor from the city, but perhaps with take out from one of his favorite D.C. restaurants? (He says he orders take out from a restaurant in the city several times a week.)
Fauci reportedly works 18 hour days, between constant TV appearances, meetings, calls with governors and answering emails “until I’m so tired I can’t do anymore.” But we hope that for Christmas—for his birthday, for Fauci Day—he gets a moment to rest.
Fauci says he’ll be home with his wife this Christmas Eve, forgoing his usual plans: a traditional Italian meal at his sister’s home in Alexandria. He encouraged the rest of us to stay home, too. But not to fret: Fauci announced on a CNN/Sesame Street town hall last week that he personally visited the North Pole to give Santa Claus his COVID-19 vaccine.
