Dr. Fauci on why the U.S. is 'out of the pandemic phase'

[Ms. Toad]

30. While I agree that Dr. Fauci is, on the whole, fantastic -

Some of his actions as to COVID have fallen below that standard.

Formal medical and/or public health credentials are not necessary to understand the near-certain impact of announcing that certain people no longer need to wear masks - or of an announcement that the pandemic is over . Formal medical and/or public health credentials are not necessary to understand the science behind masks (initially - whether they are effective at all, and later whether they protect both the wearer and those around them).

I have coped for more than 3 decades with family illnessess which are both deadly and rare. Dealing with rare illnesses is not that much different from dealing with a new disease: In both cases, for different reasons, at the time decisions need to be made there are rarely solid peer-reviewed, double-blind studies to guide the decision. The skills I have developed in the past 3 decades have allowed me to (1) efficiently ferret out the relevant research which is available, (2) discard the trash research, (3) and make relatively quick extrapolations from teh relevant, solid, research.

I used those skills here. I have agreed with most of his work on COVID - but not all, and, on every issue with which I differed from Dr.A Fauci as to COVID, time has proven me right - and him wrong. As a general rule, where we differ, is is because I am more willing to make decisions on less information. I determined early on that masks were more likely to provide protection than not - at the time Dr. Fauci was announcing there was no reason for healthy individuals to wear masks. I determined early on that masks protect not only those around an individual, but the individual as well - at the time Dr. Fauci was promoting the "wear a mask to protect others" line. Subsequently, he acknlowedged he was wrong on those two issues. I determined early on that COVID was being spread by aerosolized matter (meaining masks were more critical than social distancing or excessive hand-washing because the aerosolized matter can spread far more than 6', and lingers long after the ill person leaves the room; so it matter far less whether you are 3' or 6' (the droplet distance) - and far more that you are wearing masks to protect against/prevent the spread of the invidible and lingering aerosolized threat) - again, at the time Fauci was touting 6' (and masking if less than 6' was possible).

I don't worship individuals - I evaluate their actions and the information they are providing against what I know or can learn from reviewing the medical literature. Fauci is human, with flaws. As to COVID, at least as to public pronouncement, his flaws are showing more than (for example) in his work with AIDS.