Rand Paul Grills Fauci Over Mask Mandates, “You Parade Around in Two Masks for Show”

The New York Post has more on the heated exchange between Paul and Fauci:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) picked a fight with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday, accusing the infectious diseases expert and others who wear masks after being vaccinated against the coronavirus of doing so for “theater.”

During a Senate hearing, Paul, an eye doctor, questioned recommendations from health specialists that people who have the vaccine should continue to wear face coverings in public.

“You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show,” Paul told Fauci. “You can’t get it again there’s almost zero percent 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,” he continued.

“You want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy? Tell people to quit wearing their masks after they get the vaccine,” Paul added.

In response, Fauci quipped, “Here we go again with the theater.”

“Let me just state for the record that masks are not theater, masks are protective,” Fauci said.

Paul snapped back: “If you have immunity they’re theater. If you already have immunity you’re wearing a mask to give comfort to others.”

Paul said there was "no evidence" of significant reinfections of Covid-19 after infection or vaccine, adding he didn’t believe there had been any hospitalizations after the two-week period following full vaccination.

"You’re not hearing what I’m saying about variants. We’re talking about wild type versus variants," Fauci said.

"What study has found reinfection with severe symptoms with variants? You’re making policy based on conjecture," Paul said.

"You've been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show," Paul continued. "You're defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear a mask that have been vaccinated."’

"You want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy? Tell them they can quit wearing their mask after they get a vaccine," the senator said, "instead of telling them the nanny state's going to be there for three more years and you’ve got to wear a mask forever. People don't want to hear it and there's no science behind it."

"If you have immunity you’re wearing a mask to give comfort to others. You’re not wearing a mask because of any science," he said.

Fauci said that vaccines, developed for immunity to wild-type COVID-19, offered some "spillover immunity" to COVID variants, but that protection was diminished by anywhere from two- to eight-fold.

"We’re not dealing with a static situation for the same virus," Fauci added.

A new study by the New York Blood Center found that all three FDA-approved vaccines show efficacy against COVID-19 variants.

"Our analysis finds that there is more than enough evidence to support that the vaccines will work against mutated forms of COVID-19," the authors of the study, published in Science Magazine, wrote. They added that the efficacy of the vaccine needs to be reevaluated as new strains emerge.

Rand Paul doubled down on his stance while doing an interview with Fox News.

Paul called Fauci a "government worry wart."