Republican senator Marco Rubio accused America's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci of lying about the novel Coronavirus in general and masks in particular in the early months of the Pandemic.
"Dr. Fauci lied about masks in March," the Florida politician wrote on Twitter: He referred to a particular time period when the US did not have access to personal protective equipment. He said Fauci did not have all the details about the virus.
In January, February and March the healthcare experts knew that the SARS-CoV-2, which emerged in China's Wuhan, was contagious. But they thought that the disease, COVID-19, was more about touch than respiratory transmission. This is the reason why people became more cautious about touching possibly contaminated surfaces and began spraying disinfectants on grocery bags and wearing gloves more than masks.
Is Rubio Right?
In the early months of the Pandemic in the US, healthcare experts said that the increased demand for masks was putting medical professionals at risk. At that time Fauci also told Americans to stop buying surgical masks because doctors, nurses, other first responders, and essential workers had to have masks.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said: "The public-health community — and many people were saying this — were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply."
Over the past few months, researchers from all around the globe understood the nature of Coronavirus transmission, the risk factors, and facts about self-protections. Even though Fauci said on March 8 that "there's no reason to be walking around with a mask", it does not represent his current stance on face coverings nor the updated guidance issued by the CDC.
"Dr. Fauci has been distorting the level of vaccination needed for herd immunity. It isn't just him. Many in elite bubbles believe the American public doesn't know 'what's good for them' so they need to be tricked into 'doing the right thing," said Rubio.
In terms of "distorted" herd immunity, it is unclear what the US senator tried to mean. But it has been explained by experts that herd immunity means that 70 percent of people in the US would have to garner the antibodies necessary to fight the COVID-19 and aiming for "herd immunity" would cause the deaths of millions of Americans. Many healthcare professionals call the herd immunity idea deadly and dangerous.
As far as "elites" are concerned, Rubio cannot deny that he also belongs to the same circle, as he has already received the COVID-19 vaccines when millions of Americans are waiting for the first shot.
Here is how Twitter reacted to Rubio's attack on Fauci:
