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Rand Paul Presses Dr. Fauci on COVID Booster Shots For Children, Graft at NIH

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Dr. Anthony Fauci  clashed once again during a contentious faceoff on Capitol Hill Thursday as the senator pressed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director on whether it is necessary to continually boost young children with the experimental COVID-19 vaccines. Paul also demanded transparency from Fauci regarding the millions of dollars of royalties National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) scientists receive from certain entities.

The COVID-positive Fauci, 81, joined the Senate Health Committee hearing virtually, while CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell appeared in person to call on Congress to approve emergency supplemental funding for the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pointing out that the government now recommends that everybody over age five get boosted, Paul asked Fauci if he was aware of any studies that show reduction in hospitalization or death for children who do so.

Fauci, Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, admitted that there has not been enough “data accumulated” to make that case.

“Americans should know this,” Paul declared. “There are no studies on children showing a reduction in hospitalization or death with taking a booster.”

The Kentucky senator continued: “The only studies that were presented were antibody studies. So they say—’if we give you a booster, you produce antibodies.’ Now, a lot of scientists would question whether or not that’s proof of efficacy of a vaccine.”

Paul, a former ophthalmologist, then set Fauci up with a trick question.

“If I give you ten, or if I give a patient ten mRNA vaccines and they make protein each time, or they make an antibody each time, is that proof that we should give ten boosters, Dr. Fauci?” he asked.

“No, I think that is somewhat of an absurd exaggeration, Senator Paul,” Fauci shot back.

“Well that is the proof that you used! – your committees used that!” the senator responded, adding, “that’s the only proof you have to tell children to take a booster is that they make antibodies, so it’s not an absurdity.”

Paul continued roasting Fauci, and the regime’s failed vaccine policies.

“You’re already at like five boosters for people. You’ve had, you know, two or three boosters. It’s like – where is the proof?” Paul demanded.

NIAID announced on Wednesday that Fauci, who is reportedly fully vaccinated and twice boosted, tested positive for COVID-19.

Paul went on to note that there are serious risk factors for children getting the mRNA injections.

“The risk of myocarditis with the second dose for adolescent boys 12-24 is about 80 in a million,” Paul said. “This is both from the CDC, and the Israeli study. It’s also in the VAERS study, remarkably similar.  So there are risks, and you’re telling everyone in America to just blindly go out there because we made antibodies,” he added.

Paul told Fauci that the government should not be making public health policies based on conjecture rather than science.

“You’re not willing to be honest with the American people,” Paul chastised.

The senator pointed out that 75 percent of children have had the disease, and asked why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is not including this variable in the data.

“What is the incidence for hospitalization and death for children who’ve been infected with COVID subsequently going to the hospital and dying. What is the possibility if your kid has had COVID—which is 75 percent of them—what is the chance that the kid is going to the hospital and dying?”

Fauci told the senator that studies have shown that “the optimal degree of protection when you get infection is to get vaccinated after infection,” although many dissenting medical experts strongly disagree with that notion.

Paul argued that the number of children who have died after already having had COVID could be zero, but we’ll never know that because the CDC won’t release the data.

He pointed out that when the CDC released data regarding the efficacy of taking a booster, they purposefully left out the the age cohort of 18 to 49 because, as we eventually discovered, there was no health benefit.

The senator then pivoted to the subject of alleged graft at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“The NIH continues to refuse to voluntarily divulge the names of scientists who receive royalties and from which companies,” he said. “Over the period of time from 2010 to 2016, 27,000 royalty payments were made to 1,800 NIH employees. We know that not because you [voluntarily] told us but because we forced you to through the Freedom of Information Act. Over $193 million was given to these 1,800 employees. Can you tell me that you have not received a royalty from any entity that you ever oversaw the distribution of money in research grants?” the Republican asked.

Fauci tried to obfuscate by discussing the definition of “royalties,” but Paul interjected to demand that he answer the question.

“Have you ever received a royalty payment from a company that you later oversaw money going to that company?” he demanded.

Fauci said he didn’t know the answer as a fact, but said he doubted it.

“Well, here’s the thing, why won’t you let us know? Why don’t you reveal how much you’ve gotten and from what entities?” Paul asked.

He noted that the NIH has refused to disclose the information, and instead sends heavily redacted responses to the query.

Paul said it would be good to know if scientists on the vaccine approval committees are receiving money from people who make the vaccines.

“Can you tell me that?” he demanded.

Fauci answered that according to the regulations, people who receive royalties are not required to divulge them even on their financial statements.

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on Wednesday cleared the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 shots for children as young as six months, greasing the skids for  emergency use authorization of the experimental jabs in the coming days.

 

The back-and-forth Thursday was just the latest in a string of clashes between the two since the start of the pandemic on a range of issues, including lockdowns, masks, the funding of gain-of-function research, and the Wuhan lab leak.

Fauci has repeatedly denied that the NIH knowingly funded gain-of-function research on viruses that could have created Covid-19, and maintained that it is impossible for the coronaviruses that were studied in the Wuhan Lab to turn into COVID-19.

He reiterated this position on Thursday, telling the committee that the coronavirus likely resulted from a “natural occurrence” rather than a lab leak in Wuhan, China.

He said that, based on the evidence, the virus jumped from “an animal host, perhaps through an intermediary host, into a human species which then spread throughout the human population.”

 

 

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About Debra Heine

Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.

Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during the COVID Federal Response Hearing on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. The hearing was held to examine and update the ongoing Federal response to COVID-19, focusing on current status and future planning. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)