VIDEO: Fauci’s Reaction to Study Debunking Mask Effectiveness

Dr. Fauci Responds ‌to Study Questioning Mask Effectiveness

Former White House health adviser⁣ Dr. Anthony​ Fauci responded ⁣dismissively​ on ⁤Saturday to a study that found masks don’t work to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“When you’re talking about the effect [of masks] on the​ epidemic⁤ or the‌ pandemic as a‍ whole,⁣ the data are less strong,” Fauci told CNN’s Michael Smerconish after the host ​referenced a study that determined there’s “no evidence”⁣ mask-wearing ‍has any effect. “But ⁤when you talk about as an ⁤individual basis of someone protecting ​themselves or protecting themselves from spreading it to others, there’s no doubt that there⁢ are many studies that show that there is an advantage.”

Smerconish‌ confronted Fauci with a study the Cochrane Library published in January, which, ⁣in reviewing ⁤78⁤ randomized ‌control trials,‌ found that mask-wearing “probably makes little or​ no difference” in stopping the transmission of COVID-19.

“But ⁣there‍ are ‌other studies, Michael,” Fauci said, “that show at an individual level, for individual⁤ [sic].”

Fauci repeatedly ‌endorsed mask mandates during the pandemic,‌ often warning against lifting them even as case numbers were falling. In ​February‌ 2022, he said officials‌ should be “careful” not to end restrictions “prematurely,” also calling for children in schools ⁢to “still be masked.” Two ‌months ⁣later, ⁤he ‌ called a⁤ judge’s‍ decision to overrule the Biden administration’s⁣ mask mandate on planes and public transit a⁢ “dangerous precedent.”

Fauci, the‍ former head of the⁣ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has lately attempted to rewrite the ⁤history of his actions during the pandemic.​ In an April⁣ interview, he acknowledged that vaccine⁣ mandates may have had a detrimental effect because​ Americans may feel resentment at being forced to take ⁣the shot. In October 2021, he said that “as⁣ sensitive an issue” as vaccine‍ mandates are, they do get “people ⁣more vaccinated.”

He also claimed that he “never criticized‌ the ⁤people who ​had‌ to make the decisions [on whether to lock down] one way ‍or the other,” but he said​ in July 2020 that Americans should ⁢not “balance lives against the economy” and lambasted an August 2021 biker‍ rally, saying ⁣it could cause a surge in ‌cases.

COVID-19 mandates are making ‍a ⁢comeback, with an uptick in COVID-19 cases seeing a return of masking and mask mandates⁤ in colleges, hospitals, and companies across the country.