Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the architects behind the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, found himself in the spotlight again Monday, distancing himself from the social distancing requirement and denying that he influenced research on the origins of the virus.
Fauci appeared before a House committee on Monday and was met with both praise and criticism from lawmakers. Lawmakers asked him about COVID-19-era policies from when he was a key player in the pandemic response.
Ahead of the hearing, lawmakers expressed concern over alleged misconduct of one of Fauci’s former advisers.
In a memo published in late May, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released an email from David Morens, former senior adviser to Fauci when he was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The email said, “PS, i forgot to say there is no worry about FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act). I can either send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”
Fauci referenced the memo containing this email in his opening statement and said, “Let me state for the record that to the best of my knowledge I have never conducted official business via my personal email.”
Here’s a closer look at what else Fauci said during the hearing.
The origins of the pandemic
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked him if there was “a push to downplay the lab leak theory.” Fauci denied he tried to influence the discussion around the origins of the pandemic.
Studies have been published suggesting the virus originated from animals then spread to humans in China, while other reports show studies that say the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab. Fauci said Monday he’s always kept “an open mind” on the origin.
Fauci said he had a conference call with around a dozen virologists from across the world to discuss whether the virus originated from animals then spread to humans, or if the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab.
Then, Fauci said, “it was decided that several participants would more carefully examine the genomic sequence after this further examination.” He said researchers published their papers in peer-reviewed journals.
“The accusation being circulated that I influenced the scientists to change their minds by bribing them with millions of dollars in grant money is absolutely false and simply preposterous,” said Fauci adding he had no input into a paper published in 2020 that discussed the virus’ origins.
During his testimony, Fauci also said he didn’t try to cover up the theory that the virus came from a lab.
“I cannot account nor can anyone account for other things that might be going on in China, which is the reason why I have always said and will say now, I keep an open mind as to what the origin is,” said Fauci.
Masks, vaccines and social distancing
During the hearing, lawmakers asked Fauci about COVID-19 regulations and policies involving masks, vaccines and social distancing. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, asked Fauci about mask mandates for children under 5 years old.
“There was no study that did masks on kids before. You couldn’t do the study,” said Fauci. “You had to respond to an epidemic that was killing four to five thousand Americans a day.”
Fauci said the 6-foot distancing rule came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and there was no controlled trial behind the recommendation.
“The CDC was responsible for those kinds of guidelines for schools, not me,” said Fauci. “What I believe the CDC used for their reason to say 6 feet is that studies years ago showed that when you’re dealing with droplets, which at the time that the CDC made that recommendation, it was felt that the transmission was primarily through droplet, not aerosol, which is incorrect because we know now aerosol does play a role.”
When asked about whether or not he challenged the CDC on this recommendation, Fauci said it wouldn’t be appropriate to publicly challenge the organization.
In addition to saying he wasn’t responsible for the the social distancing regulation, Fauci defended closures of schools, businesses and churches by saying they were attempting to stop “the tsunami of deaths” that was occurring.
“How long you kept them going is debatable,” said Fauci.
As to whether or not vaccines prevented the spread of the virus, Fauci described the issue as complicated. “Because in the beginning, the first iteration of the vaccines did have an effect, not 100%, not a high effect,” he said. “They did prevent infection and subsequently obviously transmission.”
Fauci said at the onset officials did not know that “the durability of protection” was limited with respect to infection and transmission. “Whereas the duration of protection against severe disease, hospitalization and deaths was more prolonged,” he said. “We did not know that in the beginning.”