Did US infectious disease expert Fauci lie or move goalposts on virus vaccine?
Anthony Fauci receives Covid vaccine
UStop infectious disease specialist Dr. AnthonyFauci is once again in the news regarding his statement on thenew coronavirusvaccine.
The news comes as the winter surge in cases rages across the country, where the virus has claimed more than 320,000 lives and is on course to be the third leading cause of death in the year.
Faucihas admitted that he lied to Americans about herd immunity to manipulate their acceptance of a new coronavirusvaccine.
Herd immunity, or the percentage of a population that acquires resistance to the coronavirus through infection or vaccination, has been widely estimated at roughly 60 to 70 percent for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
When pressed to answer about the issue, Fauciadmitted in a new interview that he’s been intentionally moving the goalposts on his recommendations regarding herd immunity based on what he thinks the American people are ready to hear.
“When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent,”Fauci said.
Faucisaid he hesitated to state a number as high as 90 per centweeks ago because many Americans still seemed skeptical about vaccines.
The 79-year-old, who continues to practice as a physician, was among the first Americans to receive injections developed by Moderna and the NIH's National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which he has led since 1984.