National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci's often inconsistent comments and mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic are prompting renewed scrutiny as debate rages over reopening schools and businesses nearly a year after the lockdowns started.

"Dr. Fauci is a very good public-health official. His job is to advise policy makers and inform the public," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Tuesday. "But his job is NOT to decide what we can do, where we can go or which places can open or close And his job is NOT to mislead or scare us into doing the 'right things.'"

"Why should we trust Fauci with a national plan? Back in March, Fauci famously told Americans, 'There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask,'" wrote David Harsanyi in the National Review. "(Fauci now says we should wear two masks. No thanks, Dad.)"

Masks

Fauci in an interview on "60 Minutes" in early March of last year warned of "unintended consequences" of masks, saying "people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face."

(I have to admit I fall into that category, especially when in the supermarket. In order to open those flimsy polyethylene bags you put your vegetables in, I have to lick my thumb and forefinger, which means that under the mask they go -- my skin's too dry to get the bag open otherwise.)

On masks, Fauci and former Surgeon General Jerome Adams –who also warned against buying and wearing masks in spring 2020 –said officials recommended against wearing masks early in the pandemic because at the time there was a massive shortage of PPE for medical workers who needed it most. Further, more evidence of asymptomatic spread of the virus later came out.

Fauci later enthusiastically embraced wearing masks.

"What has changed in our recommendation?" Adams said in a White House briefing in July."We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms."

Now, Fauci more recently has backed recommendations that Americans wear two masks instead of one if possible in order to keep the masks tighter on people's faces.

"If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective," Fauci told NBC News last month. The CDC officially put out double-masking guidelines this month.

Vaccinations

Another issue on which Fauci has adjusted his stances is on exactly what level of vaccination is necessary for the U.S. to reach herd immunity to the virus. Fauci previously said the percentage of Americans who need to be vaccinated to reach that goal was 70% before revising that number up to higher than 80%.

This inspired a story in the New York Times that accused Fauci of "quietly shifting" recommendations. Fauci then explained to the paper that he was taking public opinion polls into account in how he shaped his comments.

"When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75%," Fauci said, according to the paper. "Then, when newer surveys said 60% or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can nudge this up a bit,’ so I went to 80, 85."

He continued: "We have to have some humility here ... We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90%. But, I’m not going to say 90%."

And on returning to normal after Americans get their vaccines, Fauci has made several different comments that are not necessarily consistent.

He reminds me of the doggerel poem:

"Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn't there.

He wasn't there again today. Oh, how I wish he'd go away!"

Get lost, Doc. And folks, you can read the article here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/faucis-mixed-messages-inconsistencies-about-covid-19-masks-vaccines-and-reopenings-come-under-scrutiny

Posted by: buy weed uk at February 24, 2021 07:49 AM (Dny97)

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at February 24, 2021 08:02 AM (BJ5qQ)

Posted by: Dana Mathewson at February 24, 2021 09:06 AM (A0QQk)

Hide Comments | Add Comment