Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, admitted to lawmakers Tuesday that there is unlikely to be any scientific data behind social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republican Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said Wednesday morning that social distancing guidelines have “kind of just recently emerged” during the coronavirus pandemic. issued a statement outlining key details from Fauci's testimony on Tuesday, including his admission that (Related: Fauci 'doesn't remember' important COVID-19 pandemic information, House subcommittee chair says)
✔️Dr. Fauci argued that the “six feet apart” social distancing recommendations promoted by federal health officials likely aren't based on any data.
“It just kind of came out.”
— Selective Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 10, 2024
“After two days of testimony and 14 hours of questioning, a lot became clear.” In an interview today, Dr. Fauci said that the policies and mandates he promotes will unfortunately continue to increase vaccine hesitancy for years to come. “We argued that it could increase by as much as 30%,” Wenstrup said. said.
“He testified that the lab leak hypothesis, which has often been swept under the rug, was not actually a conspiracy theory. Moreover, the social distancing recommendations imposed on Americans “just kind of just popped up.” “And it's likely not based on scientific data,” he added. (Related: 'No one knows where it came from': Former FDA chief says 'arbitrary' 6-foot social distancing highlights CDC's 'lack of rigor')
Fauci acknowledged to lawmakers that mandating COVID-19 vaccines could create new vaccine hesitancy and advised universities to impose vaccine mandates. Stated.
He denied visiting the CIA during the pandemic and attempting to influence the agency's investigation into the origins of COVID-19, an allegation first raised by the subcommittee.
Fauci, former President Trump and President Biden's top adviser on COVID-19, has come forward years after influencing scientific papers that discredited the laboratory leak hypothesis early in the pandemic. admitted that the theory of a laboratory leak that caused the new coronavirus infection is not a conspiracy theory.
One of the paper's authors, Dr. Christian Anderson, appears to have privately admitted to colleagues that the purpose of the paper is to discredit the laboratory leak theory.
Fauci testified before the subcommittee on Tuesday after failing to recall COVID-19 information more than 100 times during Monday's testimony. Wenstrup said. Monday night. He denied that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had funded dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic was first discovered.
The subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing with Fauci later this year.
