Dr. Anthony Fauci to be honored with bobblehead for work to reduce coronavirus surge
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the renowned immunologist shepherding the nation through the COVID-19 pandemic, will be getting his image on a bobblehead figure, according to a Thursday announcement by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.
Phil Sklar, the hall’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said he received a number of requests from Americans to recognize 79-year-old Fauci with a bobblehead.
“Americans have really fallen in love with Dr. Fauci and his simple and straightforward approach in giving us the facts and medical guidance that we need during these unprecedented times,” Sklar said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “Combining that admiration with the affection that the country has for bobbleheads has generated a lot of interest for Dr. Fauci’s bobblehead.”
The majority of bobbleheads recognize athletes and sports mascots, Sklar said, and this is the time of year when fans would normally be getting the figures from baseball, basketball and ice hockey teams.
The hall will be donating $5 from the sales of each $25 Fauci figure to the 100 Million Mask Challenge, a call by the American Hospital Association to increase production of personal protective equipment for the nation’s health care workers. The hall is accepting pre-orders for the Fauci bobblehead in the online story at bobbleheadhall.com.
Fauci, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008, has called upon all Americans to adopt social distancing measures that will help “flatten the curve,” or reduce the expected surge of COVID-19 cases. He headed up the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases head of the NIAID since 1984. An adviser to six U.S. presidents, Fauci is leading the Trump Administration’s efforts to monitor, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus.
He is not universally beloved, however, as witnessed by the death threats he’s received from people who have accused him of trying to undermine President Donald Trump.
