Dem Lawmaker Asks Dr. Fauci How To 'Bolster Confidence' In Vaccines

6 months ago

At a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing on Monday, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) questioned Dr. Anthony Fauci about bolstering confidence in vaccines.

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Transcript

00:00 Ms. Ross from North Carolina for five minutes of questions.

00:03 >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:05 I want to thank you, Dr. Fauci, for your voluntary testimony today.

00:10 Also for so much grace in your 14 hours of testimony.

00:16 And I again want to thank you for your service and your patience.

00:21 It's truly remarkable.

00:24 Because it bears repeating, let me just remind everyone that after 15 months,

00:30 my Republican colleagues, extreme allegations against you remain unsubstantiated.

00:38 Unsubstantiated.

00:40 And now during your two day closed door interview in January,

00:46 discussed a number of topics regarding the public health response to COVID-19 pandemic.

00:52 Some of which we've touched on briefly, but I just want to dive in a little bit deeper here.

00:57 For example, you discussed both then and here with Congresswoman Castor,

01:03 the recommendation that we maintain six feet of distance between one another to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

01:10 And you discussed how social distancing recommendations were developed that you yourself didn't pick this six feet.

01:20 And it was just really kind of a guideline in the moment.

01:24 In your view though, do social distancing recommendations and

01:28 other public health measures to reduce transmission save lives?

01:33 >> Definitely.

01:35 >> Okay, I'd also like to go back and

01:40 take a deeper dive into the COVID-19 vaccine discussion that we just had.

01:46 And you were also asked about that during your interview in January.

01:51 In the select subcommittee, we've heard suggestions that the vaccine was ineffective

01:55 because of breakthrough infections that occur after vaccination, we just heard about that right here.

02:01 But as I understand it, perhaps the strongest measure of COVID-19

02:06 vaccines effectiveness is the reduction of severe disease and death.

02:12 Not necessarily getting a milder form of COVID.

02:16 Could you talk about that a little bit?

02:18 >> Yes, it's very clear that when you're dealing with many vaccines, but

02:23 particularly when you're looking at COVID, as I mentioned, and I'll repeat it quickly for you.

02:28 That early on, there was a degree, not as much as against severe disease, of protection against infection.

02:35 Unfortunately, that protection against infection,

02:39 which is related to transmissibility, waned rather rapidly in a matter of months.

02:45 What has stood firm well, much better than transmission and

02:50 much better than infection, is the ability to prevent someone from hospitalizations and deaths.

02:56 And in fact, the curves, Congresswoman, are stunning.

03:01 When you look at the deaths and hospitalizations of people who are unvaccinated, it's like this.

03:08 When you look at the deaths and hospitalizations for people who are vaccinated and boosted, it's like this.

03:14 The difference is profound.

03:16 When you're dealing with infection, again, less so because of the waning of protection against infection.

03:22 >> Well, and that was also confirmed by a Commonwealth Fund December 2022 report,

03:31 which came out two years after the Biden administration's effort to get COVID-19 vaccines in arms,

03:38 and your effort too, that it prevented more than 3 million deaths and averted 18 million hospitalizations.

03:45 And that came out in 2002, but it seems to corroborate what you're saying.

03:50 >> Indeed, and $1.15 trillion in healthcare costs.

03:55 >> Thank you for that add.

03:56 One pillar of the vaccine requirements was to have an increased uptake in the COVID-19 vaccines.

04:06 And that at the time was supported by leading physicians, including the American Medical Association,

04:14 the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more.

04:19 Were the vaccine requirements a clinically sound tool for improving uptake of a safe and effective vaccine?

04:27 >> Yes, you would like people to get vaccinated voluntarily and realizing the important effect on it.

04:36 But the fact that people were vaccinated by whatever the motivation was clearly saved many, many lives.

04:45 >> And just with the 17 seconds I have, what steps can public health officials take to bolster confidence

04:54 in these life saving interventions since there has been so much misinformation circulating?

05:00 >> That's going to be very difficult, Congresswoman, because there is so much mis and

05:04 disinformation around that we've got to do a better job of reaching out and trying to get the correct information.

05:12 But that's difficult when you have a very energetic group of people continually spreading mis and disinformation about vaccines.

05:21 We've got to be more proactive in putting out the facts and the data and the information that's correct.

05:28 Thank you very much for your testimony and I yield back.

05:30 Now, I'm going to go ahead and close this out.

Dem Lawmaker Asks Dr. Fauci How To 'Bolster Confidence' In Vaccines

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