Fauci Admits He’s Been ‘Deliberately’ Moving the COVID-19 Goalposts—Partly Based on His Gut

Recently, a figure to whom millions of Americans look for guidance — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, an adviser to both the Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration — has begun incrementally raising his herd-immunity estimate.

In the pandemic’s early days, Dr. Fauci tended to cite the same 60 to 70 percent estimate that most experts did. About a month ago, he began saying “70, 75 percent” in television interviews. And last week, in an interview with CNBC News, he said “75, 80, 85 percent” and “75 to 80-plus percent.”

In a telephone interview the next day, Dr. Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly but deliberately been moving the goal posts. He is doing so, he said, partly based on new science, and partly on his gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks.

To be clear, I have not cared about Fauci’s gut feelings in quite some time. In part, because he has reversed positions many times when it was politically convenient. Also, because of his lies of omission, which have Americans believing things that just aren’t true. A few examples:

• A positive test is a “case” of COVID-19. A New York Times analysis pointed out in August that our tests are too sensitive, and only 10% of the positive tests may result in an actual illness or ability to transmit the virus.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo managed the height of the early pandemic correctly. In reality, Cuomo’s policies killed thousands of nursing home residents, and then he used his authority to cover it up.
• Fauci’s well-publicized flip-flop on mask-wearing.
• A less publicized flip-flop on the asymptomatic spread of COVID-19. In January, he said it was not a significant factor with respiratory viruses. A recent JAMA meta-analysis of 52 studies backs this up, noting that asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread accounts for 0.7% of transmissions among household contacts. Yet Fauci tells us we need to wear masks indoors and out and socially distance for the foreseeable future. The JAMA paper says that only about one in four spouses will contract COVID-19 from their symptomatic partners. But you need a mask alone in the park.
• Outdoor and surface transmission are not really a thing. Surface transmission of COVID-19 was noted to be unlikely by the CDC in May. The New York Times reported a growing consensus that outdoor transmission was not likely in May. Even indoor restaurants are reportedly responsible for about 2% of COVID-19 transmission.

That is my very short list of grievances with the Fauci. Don’t even get me started on his silence on low-cost, generic drugs to treat COVID-19 in an outpatient setting. I probably should have put them into a thread on Festivus, as the annual airing of grievances is a far more valid holiday designation than Dr. Fauci Day.

Now, this lifelong bureaucrat is telling us he thinks 90% of us need to be vaccinated while admitting he’s not really sure.

“When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent,” Dr. Fauci said. “Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can nudge this up a bit,’ so I went to 80, 85.”

“We need to have some humility here,” he added. “We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent. But, I’m not going to say 90 percent.”

This publicity hound talking about humility is the height of irony. His assertion is also insane for several reasons.

First, there is absolutely no reason for children and young adults to be vaccinated. This is a  brand-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 without a prescription in 2004. The FDA has recalled the drug, and it has been linked to cancer, birth defects, and death. Fauci saying we should give a vaccine being distributed under an emergency use authorization to children and young adults who have a near-zero risk of significant illness or death from COVID-19 is malpractice.

Second, a growing body of research tells us that some segment of the population has reactive immunity to COVID-19 from exposure to other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold. What we need in order to identify those individuals is a commercially available test for a titer. No one with a positive titer, which demonstrates an immune reaction, needs a vaccination.

Third, studies are showing that recovered patients have a robust immune response that may last years. Patients who recovered from SARS, 80% similar to COVID-19, demonstrate active immunity 17 years post-infection. Those who have recovered from COVID-19 are showing durable B-cell immunity months after infection. The CDC has also estimated that ten times the number of identified cases of COVID-19 are likely in the population. As of today, there have been 18.7 million positive tests reported. Assuming a normal immune response to exposure, that means 187 million would already have some functional immunity. That’s about half of Americans.

Our elites can continue to worship the mere man if they choose. I will remain beyond skeptical. Dr. Fauci was involved in two recent pandemics. During the H1N1 response, he stayed off T.V., never raised a public alarm—and that flu strain was deadly to children. In COVID-19, he fans the flames of panic, withholds information from the public, 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 this octogenarian, who has lived off the taxpayer dime for decades, fades back into the obscurity from which he came.