National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday was asked to address some of the varying messaging coming from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic and vaccination.
Fauci said it was important to be “clear” and “articulate” with messaging but refused to comment on whether or not the White House and CDC have been clear.
“[Y]ou try to be clear and concise and articulate,” Fauci said when asked how to solve the issue of mixed messaging.
MSNBC “Stephanie Ruhle Reports” host Stephanie Ruhle asked, “Do you think that’s what’s happened so far?”
“Well, I’m not going to comment on that,” Fauci replied. “But let me tell you what I believe is the way to explain that. It’s this issue of what fully vaccinated means versus when you’re optimally protected. So, if I were not vaccinated right now, and I decided I wanted to get vaccinated, and I got my primary — let’s say I got an mRNA and three to four weeks later I get my second shot, two weeks to a month after that, I will be fully protected. No doubt. However, as four or five months go by, the protection will wane, which means you absolutely need a booster. And that’s what I believe the director of the CDC, Dr. Walensky, was saying, that when you get to that point, you need to be up to date, so the boost is necessary.”
“It’s not necessary one month after the original vaccination, but as you get out to five months, the protection wanes. That’s what you mean by keeping up to date to be optimally vaccinated and optimally protected,” he added. “That’s, I believe, what she meant.”
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