Fauci Chides Paul For Distorting Facts On Herd Immunity
"I challenge that. You were not listening to what the director of the CDC said, that in New York, it's about 22 percent. If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, I believe you're alone in that." Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, told Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during the Senate hearing. The two men have clashed before, but Wednesday's exchange was particularly pointed.
NBC News:
Fauci, Paul Clash Over Covid-19 Herd Immunity At Senate Hearing
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, sparred Wednesday over the country's efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 and when "herd immunity" from the virus is reached. The unusually testy exchange occurred during Fauci's testimony in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. (Edwards, 9/23)
The Hill:
Fauci Scolds Rand Paul During Tense Exchange At Hearing
A seemingly irritated Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, scolded Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at a congressional hearing on Wednesday after the senator claimed that COVID-19 cases might not be rising in New York because of herd immunity. Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases doctor, told Paul he was wrong to make the suggestion, and he said Paul had also been wrong in other public comments about the concept of herd immunity. "No, you've misconstrued that, senator, and you've done that repeatedly in the past," Fauci said. (Weixel, 9/23)
The Washington Post:
Fauci Finally Loses His Patience With Rand Paul
Whenever Sen. Rand Paul and Anthony S. Fauci appear at the same hearing together, they are bound to clash. In May, they tangled over children’s susceptibility to the coronavirus. In June, Paul attacked Fauci for not being more optimistic about the coronavirus, saying that Fauci wasn’t the “end-all” and that he should be more humble about what he didn’t know. Through it all, Fauci has been characteristically diplomatic. But on Wednesday, he seemed to reach his breaking point. (Blake, 9/23)
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes dynamics within the Trump administration continue to impact the pandemic response —
The Atlantic:
Fauci To A Meddling HHS Official: 'Take A Hike'
Yesterday, after weeks of reports about political interference in the efforts of government scientists and public-health experts to inform Americans about the pandemic, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, directly addressed the two Trump-administration officials at the center of the recent controversy: Michael Caputo, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, and Caputo’s former science adviser, Paul Alexander, who attempted to censor what scientists, including Fauci, said about the coronavirus. “Caputo enabled Alexander,” Fauci told me over email. “Alexander is the one who directly tried to influence the CDC (he may have succeeded, I cannot really say) and even me (I told him to go take a hike).” (Madrigal, 9/23)
CNN:
A 'Distressed' Birx Questions How Long She Can Remain On White House Task Force, Sources Say
Once a fixture at the administration's coronavirus briefings, Dr. Deborah Birx has confided to aides and friends that she has become so unhappy with what she sees as her diminished role as coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force that she is not certain how much longer she can serve in her position, sources familiar with her thinking tell CNN. Birx has told people around her that she is "distressed" with the direction of the task force, describing the situation inside the nation's response to the coronavirus as nightmarish. (Acosta, 9/23)
