Fauci Responds After Being Shown Video in Which He Said Flu Infection Meant No Need for Vaccination

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sept. 14 claimed a video that showed him in the past saying people who had influenza did not need an influenza vaccination was taken out of context.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) played the clip, from a Fauci appearance on C-Span in 2004, before questioning Fauci during a congressional hearing in Washington.

During Fauci’s 2004 appearance, a 67-year-old woman in Minnesota called in and said she had influenza for 14 days. She also said every time she received a flu vaccine, she would have flu-like symptoms.

Fauci said he wasn’t sure why the symptoms would appear after vaccination. The C-Span host then asked if the woman needed a flu shot.

“Well no, if she got the flu for 14 days, she’s as protected as anybody can be because the best vaccination is to get infected yourself,” Fauci said. “If she really has the flu, she definitely doesn’t need a flu vaccine. She doesn’t need it, because the most potent vaccination is getting infected yourself.”

Paul noted Wednesday that some 80 percent of children in the United States have had COVID-19, giving them what is known as natural immunity, which Fauci was talking about.

Paul noted that U.S. guidelines on COVID-19 vaccination do not take into account natural immunity.

“You seemed quite certain of yourself in 2004 but in 2022 there’s a lot less certainty,” Paul said, adding later that “we wonder why you seemed to embrace basic immunology back in 2004 and how you or why you seem to reject it now.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) listens during a Senate hearing on stopping the spread of Monkeypox, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 14, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“I don’t reject basic immunology, senator, and I have never denied there is importance of the protection following

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