Dr. Anthony Fauci said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “completely incorrect” for asserting the effects of someone’s COVID-19 vaccination status does not extend to others.
DeSantis, who has been vaccinated, acknowledged the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in a press conference on Friday but insisted that whether an individual gets vaccinated “doesn’t impact me or anyone else.”
Fauci shot back on Tuesday.
“If [DeSantis] feels that vaccines are not important for people, that they’re just important for some people, that’s completely incorrect,” Fauci told CNN’s New Day.
“Vaccination has been the solution to every major public health issue in which a vaccine was developed for,” Fauci said, pointing to smallpox and polio. “When you have a virus that’s circulating in the community and you are not vaccinated, you are part of the problem because you’re allowing yourself to be a vehicle for the virus to be spreading to someone else.”
FAUCI: ‘DISINFORMATION’ ONE OF THE ‘ENEMIES OF PUBLIC HEALTH’
DeSantis, a high-profile Republican governor and possible 2024 presidential contender, has taken a divergent approach to the coronavirus pandemic from his Democratic counterparts around the country, including restricting local authorities from requiring children to wear face masks in school.
DeSantis also outlawed “vaccine passports” in Florida earlier this year, a public health strategy embraced in jurisdictions such as New York City and San Francisco, arguing that requiring proof of vaccination for certain businesses and other activities will cut off the unvaccinated segment of the population from participating in society.
While DeSantis has boasted about Florida’s vaccination numbers — the Sunshine State has administered thousands of more doses per 100,000 residents than its southeastern neighbors, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — he has also stressed the importance of personal choice in responding to the pandemic and boasted the efficacy of the monoclonal antibody treatment to fight infection rather than vaccine requirements.
“As much as I am happy to see vaccinated people get good protection against hospitalization and death, and it has been good, the fact is, it is spreading regardless of vaccination. That’s just the reality,” he said Friday.
“The vaccines have helped people ward off severe illness … At the end of the day, though, it is what somebody — it’s about your health and whether you want that protection or not. It really doesn’t impact me or anyone else,” he added.
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Beginning in late June, new cases of COVID-19 spiked in numerous states and stressed hospitals, including in Florida, with health authorities blaming the surging delta variant. Cases have since begun to fall nationally, according to Our World in Data.
As of Tuesday, 62.5% of the total U.S. population have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, while 53.2% are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
