‘Dr. Fauci lied about masks in March, ‘Rubio
tweeted Sunday morning. “Dr. Fauci has distorted the vaccination needed for herd immunity.”
Facts first: Rubio’s allegations are false and misleading. Fauci did not lie about masks. Although Fauci, along with several other U.S. health leaders, initially advised people not to wear masks, his guidance developed along with the understanding of the coronavirus by the scientific community. Fauci also insisted that the change in the numbers he provides in terms of herd immunity is largely due to the new science and a representation of the fact that there are a variety of estimates for the required level.
There is a basis for Rubio’s claim to Fauci’s attitude towards herd immunity levels. Last week, The New York Times reported that Fauci acknowledged that he was “slowly but deliberately” raising his estimates for the level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity.
According to the article, Fauci said: “When polls said that only half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I said the immunity of herds would take 70 to 75 percent. When newer surveys say that 60 percent or more would take, I thought, ‘I can fix it a little bit,’ so I went to 80, 85. ‘But even in his interview with the New York Times, Fauci shrugged off a definite number and repeated that there’ a variety of possibilities are.
Fauci made his point clear in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union Sunday, which aired more than an hour before Rubio tweeted.
Asked why he did not simply start with the higher level of vaccinated population needed to bring about herd immunity, Fauci recalled the idea that he used certain data points to distort people’s perception. “I do not think it can be interpreted as being straight or not,” he said, adding that “these are pure estimates” and later that “no one really knows.”
Fauci explained that he did not base his recommendation on surveys about the perception of the vaccine, but that his higher estimates were influenced by the highly transmitted measles, which requires at least 90% of the vaccinated population to have the immunity of the herd. to maintain.
“It’s not a big leap to go from 75 to 85. It was based on calculations and pure extrapolations of measles,” Fauci said. He noted that the extent of the coronavirus is probably less than 90% because the coronavirus is less transmissible than measles.
On masks
During a CITZEN at CNN conference, Fauci told CNN’s chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay Gupta said his developmental advice on masks is a ‘classic example’ of how guidance can change as additional scientific evidence emerges. According to him, the pandemic is a ‘developing situation’.
In March, both the World Health Organization and the CDC said that face masks should be reserved for those who are ill or caring for the sick, but later reversed their guidance after doctors learned more about how the coronavirus spreads.
Fauci explained that ‘in the spring we were not aware that 40 to 45% of the people were asymptomatic, nor were we aware that a large proportion of the people who become infected become infected by people without symptoms . ‘ After it became clear from the data, Fauci said, “It makes it overwhelmingly important for everyone to wear a mask.”
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