Marco Rubio Accuses Fauci Of Lying About The Level Of Vaccination Needed For Herd Immunity

On Sunday, United States Senator Marco Rubio accused America's top physician and immunologist Anthony Fauci of lying about the effectiveness of masks in restricting the spread of the coronavirus. He went on to say that the 80-year-old physician misrepresented information regarding the number of people that need to be vaccinated in order for America to achieve herd immunity against the deadly disease.

Taking to his Twitter account on Dec. 27, Rubio said Fauci told Americans lies about masks in Mar. He also accused him of not offering a clear picture of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity.

In his tweet, Rubio noted that some people in "elite bubbles" believe Americans do not know what is good for them, and they need to be tricked into doing what's right for them. His comments on the vaccines were likely alluding to an interview Fauci gave to The New York Times about public health officials quietly changing their earlier claims of the percentage of Americans they said must get the vaccine in order to achieve herd immunity.

In his interview, Fauci noted that when some polls showed that only about half of the American public was willing to take the vaccine, he said herd immunity would require about 70 to 75 percent. Fauci went on to say that the newer polls showed that 60 percent or more would take it, so he decided to nudge this up a bit by saying 80 to 85 percent need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity in an interview with CNBC.

Fauci admitted that they do not know the exact number of people that need to get the vaccine to achieve herd immunity. However, though he believes it is 70 to 90 percent, he said he would not say 90 percent. Following this comment, Fauci came under fire from the American public for not speaking honestly to them.

Alluding to the paper's reporting, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat tweeted Americans can't trust science because the scientists keep lying to them and later apologized, claiming that it was just a noble lie. Making an appearance on CNN's State of the Union, Fauci said they need to realize what they do not know, adding that the percentage he mentioned was nothing more than pure estimates.

Referring to his calculations, Fauci said they are mere range, adding that he first said 70-75 percent based on calculations, as well as extrapolations from measles. He went on to explain that the 10 percent increase in his public statement isn't very large.