Dr. Anthony Fauci is back to making his rounds on the Sunday shows, appearing this week on CNN's "State of the Union," ABC's "This Week," and CBS' "Face the Nation."
Fauci's discussion with Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" was particularly memorable. Fauci noted that "right now, given the data and the information we have," which he later specified is the CDC and FDA, a booster is not needed, though this could change.
He also was clear in his support for the door-to-door campaign to encourage Americans to get vaccinated:
I heard it when you were talking just awhile ago to the congressman about the idea of people saying you -- government is knocking on your door trying to force you to vaccinate. That is not the case at all. We're getting trusted messengers to try and get people to understand and appreciate why it's important for their own safety, for that of their families, and for the community in general.
On other programs, Fauci would clarify further that he meant members of the community, such as clergy. Perhaps, then, someone should have told HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, who is already seen as a bully, not to further spread fear and distrust in the government.
Becerra recently said on CNN that "it is absolutely the government's business, it is taxpayers' business, if we have to continue to spend money to try and keep people from contracting COVID."
"Knocking on a door has never been against the law, you don't have to answer," he also said. "But we hope you do, because if you do we can hopefully help dispel some of those rumors that you've heard and hopefully get you vaccinated."
In discussing vaccine hesitancy and "getting trusted messengers," Fauci went on to revert to an old habit of his by denigrating those who may be against the vaccine:
There's no reason not to get vaccinated. You make a very good point. There are places in the world, many places, where the vaccination availability is practically nil. Those people would do anything to get a vaccine.
We in the United States have enough vaccinations to give to everybody in the country. And they are lifesaving. I mean, we have got to put aside this ideological difference or differences thinking that somebody is forcing you to do something. The public health officials, like myself and my colleagues, are asking you to do something that will ultimately save your life and that of your family and that of the community.
So, Jeff, I -- Jake, don't know. I really don't have a good explanation, Jake, about why this is happening. I mean, it's ideological rigidity, I think. There's no reason not to get vaccinated.
Why are we having red states and places in the South that are very highly ideological in one way not wanting to get vaccinations? Vaccinations have nothing to do with politics. It's a public health issue. It doesn't matter who you are. The virus doesn't know whether you're a Democrat, a Republican or an independent. For sure, we know that.
And yet there is that divide of people wanting to get vaccinated and not wanting to get vaccinated, which is really unfortunate, because it's losing lives.
Something to be on the look out for, potentially, is a vaccine mandate. "I have been of this opinion, and I remain of that opinion, that I do believe, at the local level, Jake, there should be more mandates. There really should be. We're talking about life-and-death situation," Fauci was clear on. "So, people should really understand that. But they are waiting now until you get an official approval before. And I think, when you do see the official approval, Jake, you are going to see a lot more mandates," he went on to say.
Faucialso said on ABC's "This Week," that it's "quite understandable" people will want to wait for full approval, but said "that's really only a technical issue," as he mentioned on multiple programs that "the FDA dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s" and "there's no doubt in my mind" the vaccines will get then full approval.
The silver lining in Fauci's appearances may have come from his appearance on "Face the Nation," where host John Dickerson reminded Fauci that for people to be made into feeling like they're "a dummy" maybe isn't the smartest idea:
JOHN DICKERSON: I want to get to the science of the Delta variant in a minute, but let's stay on this question for a moment and ask you about human psychology. You say the facts are hitting people between the eyes. Is it possible that people are a little scared, a little nervous, and the more facts they hear, they don't hear evidence. What they hear is you're a dummy for not getting this and that. Potentially people feel insulted when- when the evidence is presented as if it should be clearly obvious to any normal person and that all that does is put them back in their corner.
DR. FAUCI: You know, you have a point there, and that's the reason, John, we're what's going on right now is getting trusted messengers, not government officials like myself, but trusted messengers in the community to outreach to people. And those messages could be your family doctor. It could be a clergy person. It could be a community leader. It could be a sports figure. It could be the people who are really trusted by the community. So you're absolutely right. I mean, telling people, you know, you've got to get vaccinated, you've got to get vaccinated. I mean, I think it's important to point that out. People do need to know, not in a pejorative way, not in a finger pointing way, but just look at the data. Ninety-nine point five percent of all of the deaths are among unvaccinated people. So we have vaccines that are highly, highly effective. And what we need to do is to get those trusted messengers, which we're trying to do to get out into the community and explain to people, you know, in a non finger pointing way why it's important to get vaccinated.
Here's hoping Dr. Fauci will learn his lesson.