Dr. Fauci Slams Tucker Carlson’s Bogus Comment That Vaccines Don’t Work

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, criticized Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for remarks he made claiming that Covid-19 vaccines do not work amid concerns that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine can cause blood clots in select cases.

“That’s just a typical crazy conspiracy theory. Why would we not tell people if [the vaccine] doesn’t work? Look at the data. The data are overwhelming,” Fauci said in an interview with CNN.

“In the three vaccines that have been approved for use in an emergency use authorization—the J&J, the Pfizer and the Moderna—you had 30,000 [Moderna], 44,000 [Pfizer] and 40,000 [J&J] people in the clinical trial with an overwhelming signal of efficacy,” he added. “So I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about … It’s certainly not helpful to the public health of this nation, or even globally.”

You can listen to Dr. Fauci’s remarks in the video below.

Carlson had earlier claimed without evidence that the wearing of masks and following social distancing guidelines does not actually protect individuals from the virus.

“If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who have received the vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact,” Carlson said on his program. “So maybe it doesn’t work, and they’re simply not telling you that.”

Carlson’s comments are false; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been clear about how both precautions can significantly curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“Social distancing should be practiced in combination with other everyday preventive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks, avoiding touching your face with unwashed hands, and frequently washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds,” the CDC says on its website.

Carlson’s remarks came as the United States called for injections of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine to halt as federal agencies examine a rare blood-clotting disorder that has affected six people. More than seven million people around the country have received Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine thus far.