Friday on CBS’s “This Morning,” White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci sounded off on his heated exchange with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) from the day before about the efficacy of masks after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Paul argued that Fauci wearing a mask despite being vaccinated is “just theater.”
Fauci told CBS’s Gayle King that Paul, a physician, is “dead wrong” because the elderly could still get re-infected.
“[I] mean, Senator Paul has this message that we don’t need masks, which goes against just about everything we know about how to prevent the spread of the virus,” Fauci asserted. “He was quoting literature selectively and leaving out important studies which actually show that people actually can get re-infected. His point was that if you’re vaccinated, you shouldn’t be wearing a mask — in fact, as the more people get vaccinated, just put masks away, it’s theater. That’s ridiculous.”
He continued, “I mean, just the other day, yesterday, the day before, paper came out showing that individuals who are infected, particularly the elderly individuals greater than 65, they have a high incidence of getting re-infected. So he was saying if you’ve been infected or you’ve been vaccinated, don’t wear a mask, which is completely against all public health tenets. So, he’s dead wrong. I mean, I don’t have anything personally against him, but he’s just, quite frankly, incorrect.”
Fauci went on to emphasize the importance of people receiving vaccinations and following public health measures to prevent getting infected with coronavirus or one of its variants.
Paul told Fox News on Friday that there is “not a great deal of evidence” mask mandates have been effective throughout the pandemic. He questioned the “science” behind mask mandates if someone has been vaccinated.
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