If Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, isn’t moving goalposts or changing his viewpoint on masks, he’s using his gut to make national recommendations. Or as he phrased it, “you’ve got to make a judgment call.” Is he following the science or the feeling?
Most Americans have noticed by now that Dr. Fauci has spent the last year changing and manipulating the standards set by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in order to fit whatever narrative is necessary at the moment. He’s talked about reaching herd immunity by May, pushed it all the way to nearly winter, then brought it back to the summertime all in one month. He has previously mentioned changing the goalposts on herd immunity based upon his “gut reaction” to what he thinks people are ready to hear.
Dr. Fauci even warned Texas officials for repealing the mask mandate and allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity, despite declining cases and declining hospitalization rates in their state. He accused Texans of “completely putting aside all public health measures” and “inviting” another surge of COVID-19 cases.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has argued that people in Texas will continue to wear masks if it makes them more comfortable, but that it will not be a state mandate. We’re just in a situation now where government mandates are not needed because Texans do know best practices,” he said.
During a recent interview with CNN, Dr. Fauci was asked about whether or not he supported the guidance that fully vaccinated individuals could travel. The airline industry has been hit hard by pandemic restrictions and fully vaccinated people are still having to follow the same CDC guidelines that were set throughout the pandemic. While he said that the CDC is carefully headed in a direction that would ease travel restrictions, the rollout is a “multi-step process” that they will have to cautiously base their decisions on.
“They’re being careful, understandably. They want to get science, they want to get data, and then when you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, then you’ve got to make a judgment call,” Dr. Fauci said.
George Washington University public health professor Leana Wen said she was confused about Dr. Fauci’s approach to traveling since the year-long pause of travel has kept families from seeing loved ones and caused major damage to the economy and jobs. According to recent data, travel has been very low risk for the spread of COVID-19, being likened to traveling in your individual car with everyone wearing masks inside.
The U.S Travel Association also urged Dr. Fauci to set goals for relaxing the official guidance on travel to reopen the airline economy, but the medical expert has noted that “little by little” the guidelines will ease up.
“The first installation of this is what can vaccinated people do in the home setting. Obviously, the next one is going to be what you’re asking. What about travel? What about going out? What about getting a haircut, what about doing things like that? That’s all imminently going to be coming out,” Dr. Fauci said.
Dr. Fauci is one of the highest-paid government employees for his “scientific expertise,” but has still admitted to playing the guessing game. What happened to “follow the science?”
