Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci met in another heated discussion at Thursday’s COVID Senate hearing, where the Kentucky Republican accused Fauci of wearing a “theater” mask after receiving a vaccine.
Fauci emphasized that vaccines and natural immunity do not protect against COVID-19 variants.
Paul expressed frustration at the prediction by the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist that Americans may need to wear masks by 2022.
Paul pointed to a study that found no symptomatic reinfections and another that showed that the natural infection would prevent the vast majority of people from being hospitalized because of the virus in the coming years.
“You are telling everyone to wear a mask, whether they have had an infection or a vaccine. What I am saying is that they have immunity and everyone agrees that they have immunity, ”said Paul, who is a doctor, to Fauci.
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“What studies do you have that show that the people who got the vaccine or had an infection are spreading the infection? If we are not spreading the infection, isn’t it just theater? Did you get the vaccine and are using 2 masks, isn’t that theater? “Paul continued.
“Here we go again with the theater, let’s get down to business,” fired Fauci.
“When you talk about reinfection and don’t keep the concept of variants, this is a totally different game. It is a good reason for a mask, ”he said.
Fauci pointed to a South African study by Johnson and Johnson that found that those who had been infected with the “wild type” COVID-19, that is, the original strain, “had no protection” when exposed to variants.
“I agree with you that you would most likely have protection against the wild type for at least six months,” continued Fauci.
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Paul said there was “no evidence” of significant Covid-19 reinfections after the infection or vaccine, adding that he did not believe there was any hospitalization after the two-week period after the full vaccination.
“You are not listening to what I am saying about variants. We are talking about wild type versus variants,” said Fauci.
“What study found reinfection with severe symptoms with variants? You are making a policy based on conjecture,” said Paul.
“You were vaccinated and paraded with two masks to show off,” continued Paul. “You are challenging everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear a mask that has been vaccinated.” ‘
“Do you want to get rid of the hesitation of the vaccine? Tell them that they can stop using the mask after receiving the vaccine,” said the senator, “instead of saying that the nanny state will be there for another three years and you has to wear a mask forever. People don’t want to hear it and there’s no science behind it. “
“If you have immunity, you are wearing a mask to comfort others. You are not wearing a mask because of any science, ”he said.
Fauci said that vaccines, developed for immunity to wild-type COVID-19, offered some “overflow immunity” to COVID variants, but that protection has been reduced by two to eight times.
“We are not dealing with a static situation for the same virus,” added Fauci.
A new study by the New York Blood Center found that all three vaccines approved by the FDA show efficacy against the COVID-19 variants.
“Our analysis shows that there is more than enough evidence to support that vaccines will work against mutant forms of COVID-19,” wrote the authors of the study, published in Science Magazine. They added that the vaccine’s effectiveness needs to be reassessed as new strains emerge.
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However, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that all three vaccines showed significantly reduced efficacy against South Africa’s variant B.1.351.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told drug manufacturers that they need to prove that the vaccine produces a strong immune response against the variants.