Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the COVID-19 measures in 2020 and early 2021 during a Congressional committee meeting, and he admitted that no study supported the six-foot social distancing guideline.
Fauci on COVID-19 Measures
Fauci said during the meeting that it is "very, very clear" that in the future, officials will need to consider the possible unintended consequences of things like mask and vaccine regulations and ask themselves, "How can we do better next time?"
Additionally, he concedes that the length of time that residents were locked in place was "debatable." However, he acknowledged that lockdowns were required because the virus was allegedly killing close to 5,000 people every day.
"I think things we did, in the beginning, were in the context of a horrible situation of 4,000 to 5,000 deaths per day, but that doesn't mean that you don't go back and look and say, 'Did everything we do at that point and the duration for which we did it, was that appropriate and do we need to re-examine?'" Fauci said.
The 83-year-old told Republicans also mentioned that the six feet rule "sort of just appeared," stating that he cannot determine its source. In addition, Fauci admitted he was "not aware of the studies" and that they would be "very difficult" to do.
According to transcripts from a closed-door congressional conference released on Friday, Fauci defined the well-known 6-foot social distance rule offered by the CDC as "an empiric decision that wasn't based on data," suggesting that it was not supported by scientific research.
The six-foot distance guideline was "probably the single most costly intervention the CDC recommended that was consistently applied throughout the pandemic," according to former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who made this assertion in his book "Uncontrolled Spread."
Joseph Allen, a specialist in environmental health at Harvard University, asserts that the six-foot distance was erroneous and based on false information. According to Allen, the six-foot rule was a misconception that had been around for several decades and was based on an incorrect understanding of how particles moved through interior spaces. He went on to say that specialists were misguided to prioritize diseased individuals over better ventilation.
ALSO READ : COVID-19 Vaccines More Effective When First, Second Shots Are Injected in Different Arms [Study]
AstraZeneca's COVID Vaccine No Longer Authorized for Use
AstraZeneca applied to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine from worldwide marketing due to low demand. On May 7, 2024, the European Commission granted the request and announced that the vaccine was no longer authorized for use.
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was first approved by the EMA in January 2021. However, weeks later, concerns regarding the vaccine's safety grew, and as a result, dozens of countries suspended its use after a small number of injected people experienced unusual but rare blood clots. The EU regulator, however, concluded that despite ongoing doubts, AstraZeneca's injection did not raise the overall risk of clotting.
In January 2021, shoddy reporting in Germany suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine was only "8% effective in the elderly." This claim was widely reported, but the public was eventually told that the figure referred to the proportion of participants in the study who were 65 or older rather than the drug's efficacy.
Although AstraZeneca is an excellent corporation, Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA versions show better performance and safety, which may be among the reasons there was a decline in AstraZeneca's demand. Additionally, mRNA vaccines are easier to update.
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