White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci pushed back Wednesday against Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s claim that New York has overcome the coronavirus pandemic because it achieved herd immunity, telling the Republican lawmaker he\u2019s \u201cnot listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an exchange at a Senate hearing on the nation\u2019s coronavirus response, Paul claimed that New York\u2019s death rate is among the highest in the world despite shuttering businesses and schools earlier this year to curb the spread of the coroanvirus.<\/p>\n
He also compared New York\u2019s response with that by Sweden, which decided to keep its economy relatively open. Public health experts have said that Sweden\u2019s vulnerable population paid a price for<\/a> that decision. The Kentucky U.S. senator also said New York has achieved enough herd immunity from the coronavirus and is \u201cno longer having the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo those who argue that the lockdown flattened the curve in New York and New Jersey, the evidence argues otherwise,\u201d Paul said, accusing Fauci of being a \u201cbig fan\u201d of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York\u2019s \u201cshutdown\u201d despite its high number of Covid-19 deaths.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you misconstrued that senator, and you\u2019ve done that repeatedly in the past,\u201d Fauci responded at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got hit very badly, they made some mistakes. Right now if you look at what\u2019s going on right now, the things that are going on in New York to get their test positivity 1% or less is because they are looking at the guidelines that we have put together from the task force of the four or five things of masks, social distancing, outdoors more than indoors, avoiding crowds and washing hands,\u201d said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.<\/p>\n He also said he \u201cchallenged\u201d Paul\u2019s claim that New York has achieved herd immunity, saying around 22% of New York\u2019s residents have likely been exposed to the coronavirus.\u00a0Sixty to 80% of a population needs to be vaccinated or develop antibodies through natural infection to achieve herd immunity,\u00a0top World Health Organization officials have said.<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier in the hearing, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that more than<\/a> 90% of the U.S. population \u201cremains susceptible\u201d to Covid-19. The coronavirus\u00a0has spread across America at varying rates since it crossed U.S. shores in January, infecting as much as 15% to 20% of the population in some states and less than 1% in others, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are not listening to what the director of the CDC said,\u201d Fauci told Paul. \u201cIf you believe that 22% is herd immunity, I believe you\u2019re alone in that.\u201d<\/p>\n