Fauci and Rand Paul clash in congress over masks

Fauci acknowledges the covid vaccines don’t protect against new variants&have short duration for older strains

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci pushed back on Thursday against Republican Sen. Rand Paul's claim that people are not at risk of Covid after they have recovered or have been vaccinated. "Isn't it just theater?" the Kentucky junior senator, an ophthalmologist, asked during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.

"You've been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. You can't get it again," Paul said. "There's virtually 0% chance you're going to get it and you're telling people that have had the vaccine who have immunity — you're defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks who have been vaccinated."

In response, Fauci said, "Here we go again with the theater."

"Can I just state for the record that masks are not theater," Fauci said. "I totally disagree with you."

The emergence of new, highly contagious variants poses a threat to people who have recovered from Covid or who have been vaccinated. While a growing body of evidence suggests that people who are inoculated against Covid are less likely to transmit the disease to others, it's still not known how long someone's protection might last or the effectiveness of the shots against emerging variants, the CDC said on March 8.