Dr. Anthony Fauci revealed on Sunday that he was willing to do anything to force more Americans to get vaccinated – no matter the cost.
Fauci joined ABC’s “This Week” and discussed the continued surge of cases of COVID-19 — particularly the now-dominant and far less severe Omicron variant — with host Jonathan Karl, and he argued that “anything that could get people more vaccinated” should certainly be a consideration for President Joe Biden and his administration.
“Let me ask you about something else from the president’s interview with David,” Karl began, referencing Biden’s interview just before Christmas with ABC’s David Muir. “David asked about the vaccine, the lack of a vaccine requirement for air travel. There is no vaccine requirement for domestic air travel in the United States, and when the president was asked, should there be one, he said that his team has said it’s not necessary at this point. Do you agree with that? There shouldn’t be a vaccine requirement for domestic air travel?”
“Well, it depends on what you want to use it for,” Fauci, who currently serves as Biden’s chief medical adviser, replied. “I mean, vaccine requirements for people coming in from other countries is to prevent newly-infected people from getting into the country.”
“A vaccine requirement for a person getting on the plane is just another level of getting people to have a mechanism that would spur them to get vaccinated,” Fauci continued. “Mainly you can’t get on a plane unless you’re vaccinated, which is just another one of the ways of getting requirements, whatever that might be. So I mean, anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome.”
Fauci continued admitting that the vaccine requirement for domestic travel would not even be to prevent people from spreading the virus to one another – but simply to trick more people into getting vaccinated.
Fauci said that he believes the main barriers to spreading the virus on flights were masking in combination with the advanced filtration systems on planes. Adding a requirement for a vaccine, he said, would be more of a tactic designed to pressure people to get vaccinated.
“That’s what we meant by it depends on what the goal of getting people vaccinated before they get on a domestic flight,” he said.
“But with regard to the spread of virus in the country, I mean, I think if you look at wearing a mask and the filtration on planes, things are reasonably safe,” Fauci said. “We want to make sure people keep their masks on. I think the idea of taking masks off, in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering…”
Karl replied, noting the recent remarks by airline CEOs that cabin air is some of the cleanest among indoor spaces.
“And of course, the airline CEOs were suggesting that, you know, that we may not — may no longer need a mask. I hear you loud and clearly, you disagree with that on an — on the airplane,” Karl said.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly spoke about the air quality on airplanes during a recent Senate hearing.
“I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,” Kelly said. “It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.”
Parker echoed Kelly, and added that planes “all have the same HEPA filters and air flow.”
The federal transportation mask mandate has been extended multiple times, and is now set to expire on March 18, 2022, unless another extension is granted.
Author: Richard Gordon
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