Last year, according to emails released by FOIA request, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that typical store-bought masks aren’t really effective at keeping out the virus. “Masks are really for infected people to protect them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection,” Fauci wrote in an email on February 5, 2020. “The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material.”
Fauci’s original assessment of the efficacy of face masks was confirmed by a study from University of Waterloo in Canada that was released over the summer, which found that “the most common masks, primarily due to problems with fit, filter about 10 percent of exhaled aerosol droplets. The remaining aerosols are redirected, mostly out the top of the mask where it fits over the nose, and escape into the ambient air unfiltered.” Even the superior N95 and KN95 masks aren’t perfect, but they do filter over 50% of exhaled aerosols. However, the study also found that proper ventilation systems can be just as effective as the best masks. “Even modest ventilation rates were found to be as effective as the best masks in reducing the risk of transmission.”
Despite his admission that typical store-bought face masks aren’t very effective, Fauci eventually recommended wearing them. Later he would recommend goggles and even double-masking, calling it “common sense.” Through it all, most of us assumed that eventually, once the virus had run its course and herd immunity was achieved, we could finally say goodbye to the masks.
Related: Rules Are for Rubes: Fauci Spotted Maskless, Violating Mandate, at Tony DC Party
But Dr. Fauci has other ideas. During an appearance on ABC’s This Week with Jonathan Karl, Fauci said he doesn’t believe face masks are going away any time soon, and that they remain an important tool in preventing the spread of COVID-19 — even if you’re fully vaccinated.
“You said earlier this week that if you are vaccinated, you should feel comfortable traveling and celebrating the holidays with your family,” Karl noted. “Do you still believe that?”
“No, I do. If you are vaccinated and boosted, and are prudent when you travel, when you are in an airport, to be wearing a mask all the time, you have to be wearing a mask on a plane,” Fauci replied. “Do not do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is.”
Fauci also suggested that people get tested for COVID before going to other people’s homes.
“If you do that, and some people are even going the extra step or the extra mile, or maybe even getting tested when you have people coming over the house. We now have a much wider availability or point of care test that you can get a result in about 15 minutes. So you might want to do that. If you do these things, Jon, I do believe that you can feel quite comfortable with a family setting, dinners and the gatherings that you have around the holiday season. Nothing is 100% risk-free, but I think if you do the things I just mentioned, you actually mitigate that risk enough to feel comfortable about being able to enjoy the holiday.”
Fauci: people shouldn’t “do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is."
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) December 19, 2021
Fauci also said he doesn’t think we’ll ever get to a point where we can go maskless on an airplane.
Q: Do you think we'll be able to fly without masks again?
Fauci: "No, I don't think so." pic.twitter.com/oDBysdW0Rz
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 19, 2021
How did Fauci go from saying typical face masks are “not really effective in keeping out virus” to essentially saying they’re here to stay?
