Fauci’s comment on flu vaccination doesn’t negate Covid-19 advice


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Facebook posts claim that top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci contradicted himself in advising all Americans to get vaccinated against covid-19, citing a clip from years ago in which the doctor says that a person who has recovered from the flu does not need to be vaccinated against the flu. But Covid-19 and the flu are separate diseases, Fauci’s advice in the 2004 video was specific to one person, and scientists are still investigating the durability of natural immunity after Covid-19 infection.

On April 1, 2022 facebook post features a video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson saying, “Fauci admitted … that he had, in fact, been lying about natural immunity in order to convince Americans to get vaccinated.”

The clip cuts to an old C-SPAN video in which Fauci says that if a patient “really has the flu, they definitely don’t need a flu shot… The strongest vaccine is getting infected.”

Carlson says of the clip: “Back in 2004, when there were no Pfizer vaccines to sell for Covid, Tony Fauci was completely honest about natural immunity because he wasn’t getting paid for not being natural.”

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on April 27, 2022

More examples of the claim, part of a spate of inaccurate claims about Fauci and Covid-19 that have spread online during the pandemic, appeared on Facebook. here Y here.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), spoke about the flu and flu shots at a video posted on C-SPAN on October 11, 2004.

When a woman called for advice after a bout of the flu and mentioned that she reacted poorly to previous injections, Fauci said she didn’t need a shot. “If she had the flu for 14 days, she’s just as protected as anyone else,” she said.

NIAID said the doctor’s advice is not in conflict with current recommendations to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

“The statements Dr. Fauci made in this video from 2004 were made in the context of a discussion about influenza, not covid-19. Dr. Fauci continues to support the CDC’s recommendations for vaccination against covid -19, which state that people must receive a vaccine against the covid-19 vaccine even if they have already had Covid-19,” the institute told AFP on April 26, 2022.

He noted that during the 2004-2005 flu season, when the video was shot, a shortage of influenza vaccines prompted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prioritize at-risk populations to receive the vaccine first.

Fauci’s 2004 advice was specific to the caller, who had already been ill, and is generally supported by the doctor. current CDC guidance that everyone six months of age and older should get a flu shot every year, even those who have already had the flu that season, the NIAID said.

Regarding natural protection against covid-19, he said: “While immunity from prior infection appears to have some protective benefits, the level and durability of protection afforded by prior infection remain unclear. Vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect against severe covid-19.” 19″.

computational epidemiologist maimuna mahumder from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ruled out the equation of the flu and covid-19.

“False parallels between the flu and Covid-19 are dangerous,” he said. “Although both diseases are respiratory in nature, COVID-19 is certainly more deadly than the flu. I think this is important to keep in mind, especially when trying to dispel misinformation that treats these two diseases as comparable.”

Majumder also explained that vaccination is a much safer alternative to risking infection. “The probability of hospitalization or death due to infection, especially severe infection, is much higher than the probability of these outcomes due to vaccination,” he said.

And he noted that while there is infection-conferred immunity to both Covid-19 and the flu, protection can vary between people who have gotten sick with either disease.

“If the goal is to protect ourselves from hospitalization and death, the safest way to do that is to get vaccinated,” Majumder said.

Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine Monica Gandhi agreed, saying, “Vaccination is a much safer way to acquire immunity to a pathogen than infection itself.”

citing This studiosaid: “Although natural immunity was strongly protective against the Delta variant, recovery does not appear to be as protective against Omicron, which requires vaccination after immunity to restore further protection against infection.”

the flu does not confer lasting immunityand research indicates that Neither is the Covid-19 infection. Gandhi pointed out that seasonal flu shots must be changed every year depending on the strains that circulate, and that covid-19 booster shots They are necessary to defend against future diseases.

“Dr. Fauci encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19 does not represent a twist on his previous statements in the video, which was for a different virus and a different type of vaccine,” he said.



Reference-factcheck.afp.com

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