Masking up Again? Yes? No? Depends on What Fauci Said When

As we are starting to see Dr. Anthony Fauci in the news again to tout the benefits of masking, we should take the time to follow his directives on this during the past several years.

At the beginning of Covid, he went back and forth on the usefulness of masks. In January, 2020 he said they don't work. He doubled down on this two months later when he said people shouldn't be walking around with masks because they're not providing the perfect protection that people think it is.

Interestingly, the CDC agreed, as did the Department of Health and Human Services, as did a Johns Hopkins public health expert, as did our Surgeon General Jerome Adams who flat out said masks are not effective. Worse, he said if worn improperly, masks might actually increase risk of infection.

Nevertheless, Dr. Fauci backtracked in July, 2020, saying he was wrong to have dismissed the use of face masks.

In late 2020, he actually doubled down on mask use by recommending double-masking. With no scientific data to back up his latest mask mania, he said that it was just common sense that two masks would be more effective than one.

But by early 2021, Fauci admitted that there was no data indicating double-masking is effective. He also effectively admitted that his promotion of over-doing our cover-up was based on emotion, not scientific data.

Remember when Dr. Fauci promised us that masks would be unnecessary once the vaccines came out? Do you also recall him later telling us that masks would be necessary after vaccines, because of likely vaccine-resistant variants? In effect, he was letting us know that mask wearing might be necessary every flu season – forever. Did we realize the bait and switch that he kept throwing at us? More importantly, are we going to put those masks on and then yank them off as he constantly moves the goal posts around?

The worst part of this is that Dr. Fauci knew that masks can't block viruses. In a private email in February 2020, he said that masks are not really effective in keeping out viral particles because they are small enough to pass through material.

As astonishing as this may seem, he told Michael Smerconish on CNN this year that there is no doubt that masks do in fact work.

He has defended his flip-flopping with the excuse that when facts change, he changes his mind. This is an appropriate way to view evolving scientific knowledge, except for one thing: None of the facts had changed and no studies were done to justify his dizzying changes of heart.

What adds to the fallout caused by the promotion of masks are the studies that have shown statistically significant harmful effects of wearing masks for those with respiratory diseases, also causing increases in headaches, and decreases in cognitive precision, among many other side effects.

We have been programmed to be terrified of Covid and to try anything proposed to decrease our chances of getting it. Rather than be in a constant state of agitation, we might consider keeping those masks in a drawer, and getting our Vitamin D and Zinc levels tested to make sure they are dosed at optimal levels for immune protection. (Early studies showed that most people who got Covid were Vitamin D deficient.) We should walk outside and inhale the fresh air, and tell ourselves that there are plenty of things we can do to better protect ourselves than to follow like lemmings the ever-changing advice on whether or not to wear masks.