Recently, a figure for whom millions of Americans are seeking guidance — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, an adviser to both the Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration — has begun to progressively increase their estimate of immunity to ramat.
In the early days of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci tended to cite the same 60-70 percent estimate that most experts made. About a month ago, he started saying “70, 75 percent” in TV interviews. And last week, in an interview with CNBC News, he said “75, 80, 85 percent” and “between 75 and 80 percent more.”
In a telephone interview the next day, Dr. Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly but deliberately moved the poles of the targets. It does so, he said, based in part on new science, and in part on the feeling that the country is about to hear what it really thinks.
To be clear, I don’t care about Fauci’s gut feelings in a long time. Partly because he has reversed positions many times when it was politically appropriate. Also, because of their lies of omission, which make Americans believe things that are simply not true. Some examples:
This is my brief list of grievances with the Fauci. It doesn’t even make me start his silence on low-cost generic drugs to treat COVID-19 in an outpatient setting. You probably should have put them in a thread at Festivus, as the annual transmission of grievances is a much more valid holiday designation than Dr. Day.
Now, this lifelong bureaucrat tells us that he believes 90% of us need to be vaccinated while admitting that he is not safe.
“When polls said only half of all Americans get a vaccine, I was saying that the herd’s immunity would take between 70 and 75 percent,” Dr. Fauci said. “Back then, when the most recent polls said 60% or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can do a little more of this,’ so I went to 80, 85.”
“We have to have a little bit of humility here,” he added. “It simply came to our notice then. I think the actual range is between 70 and 90 percent. But I won’t say 90%. “
This advertising dog that talks about humility is the high point of irony. His claim is also insane for several reasons.
First, there is absolutely no reason for children and young adults to be vaccinated. It is a new vaccine technology whose long-term side effects are not at all clear. There is now a class action lawsuit against Zantac (ranitidine), approved by the FDA in 1983, and over-the-counter sales in 2004. The FDA has recalled the drug and linked it to cancer, birth defects and death. Fauci says we should distribute a vaccine under an emergency use authorization to children and young adults who have an almost nil risk of developing significant disease or dying from COVID-19.
Second, a growing number of researches indicate that some segments of the population have COVID-19-reactive immunity to exposure to other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold. What we need to identify these people is a commercially available proof for a title. No one with a positive title, who demonstrates an immune reaction, needs a vaccine.
Third, studies show that recovered patients have a robust immune response that can last for years. Patients who recovered from SARS, 80% similar to COVID-19, demonstrate active immunity 17 years after infection. Those who have recovered from COVID-19 show lasting B cell immunity months after infection. The CDC has also estimated that ten times the number of identified cases of COVID-19 is likely in the population. To date, 18.7 million positive tests have been reported. Assuming a normal immune response to exposure, this means that 187 million would already have some functional immunity. They are about half of Americans.
Our elites can continue to worship the simple man if they wish. I will continue beyond the skeptics. Dr. Fauci was involved in two recent pandemics. During the response to H1N1, he was left off television, never gave any public alarm, and this flu strain was deadly for children. At COVID-19, he admits panic flames, holds public information, and makes ridiculous pronouncements based on his “gut”.
The only difference between these two pandemics was the politics of the day. For this reason, I hope that this octogenarian, who has been living off taxpayer currency for decades, will retreat into the darkness from which he emerged.