I am not in favor or against Fauci or his comments (I am not even american), and I am not a linguist either so perhaps you can help me:

Is "not recommended" == "discouraged"?

"He also acknowledged that masks were initially not recommended to the general public so that first responders wouldn’t feel the strain of a shortage of PPE."

As far as I understand, 'discouraging' is to saying publicly "Do not buy masks" and 'not recommending' might be just that, as in, not saying "Go and buy a masks or you'll spread the disease".