Dr Anthony Fauci told CBS This Morning on Friday that Senator Rand Paul was ‘dead wrong’ after the two had an angry face over the mask during a Senate hearing. Fauci argues that Americans should continue to wear masks even after doing so vaccinated against COVID-19 – something that Paul dismissed as ‘theater’.
“Senator Paul has the message that we do not need masks, which is contrary to everything we know about preventing the spread of the virus,” Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, told CBS This Morning .
“He said if you are infected or vaccinated, you should not wear a mask – it is completely against all principles of public health,” Fauci continued. “So he’s dead wrong. I mean, I have nothing personal against him. But he’s just plain honestly wrong.”
Paul, who was an ophthalmologist before entering politics, is one of Fauci’s harshest critics in Congress and regularly stays with him during COVID-related hearings. They were working on it again on Thursday when the Republican of Kentucky rejected the guidelines for vaccinated to wear masks in public places.
“Do you want to get rid of the hesitation of the vaccine? Tell them you can stop wearing your mask after they get the vaccine,” Paul said. ‘You want people to get the vaccine, give them a reward instead of telling them that the babysitter will be there for another three years and that you have to wear a mask forever. People do not want to hear it. ‘
“Well, let me just say for the record that masks are not theater,” Fauci replies. “Masks are protective.”
“If you have immunity, it’s theater,” Paul said. “If you already have immunity, wear a mask to comfort others.”
“I totally disagree with you,” Fauci told him.
Fauci explained that masks can protect against coronavirus variant which spreads rapidly in the US and could potentially lead to reinfection for people who have already had the virus. Researchers are still investigating how well current vaccines will protect against emerging variants.
Fauci said earlier that it is possible that in 2022, Americans will have to continue wearing masks. Doctors have pointed out that vaccinated people may still distributes COVID, even if they are protected from its symptoms.
The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated Americans still wear masks in public, even though they say they may have unmasked indoor visits to other vaccinated and with non-vaccinated from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID disease.