'If these shots works, why can't you live like it works?' Tucker Carlson demands Fauci explain why he keeps insisting on masks even among the vaccinated - only to be called a 'crazy conspiracy theorist'
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night doubled down on his criticism of Anthony Fauci's recommendation to continue wearing masks, stepping up his attack after Fauci accused him of spreading a 'crazy conspiracy theory'.
The clash began on Tuesday, when the Fox News host questioned why people who were fully vaccinated were recommended to continue wearing face masks and suggested the vaccines didn't work.
'So maybe it doesn't work, and they're simply not telling you that,' Carlson said.
'That's just a typical crazy conspiracy theory,' Fauci responded during an interview on Wednesday.
Later that night, Carlson hit back at the disease expert, demanding to know; 'If this stuff works, why can't you live like it works? What are you really telling us here?'
'For months now, we have been asking a very straightforward question about the coronavirus vaccine,' Carlson said on his Fox show.
'Why do people who take it -and by the way, why do people who have been previously infected and show high levels of antibodies - have to live under the restrictions that the vaccines were supposed to eliminate?' he asked.
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night hit back at criticism by Anthony Fauci
Fauci on Wednesday morning told CNN that Carlson's speculation was 'not helpful'
'Why, for example, does Tony Fauci say you have to wear a mask after you get the vaccine?'
Carlson added: 'If this stuff works, why can't you live like it works? What are you really telling us here?
'And by the way, this, again, is not a trick question, we are not playing word games here, what is the answer? If the coronavirus vaccine prevents you from catching the coronavirus, why are you wearing a mask?
'Why can't you eat in a restaurant? And if it doesn't prevent you from catching the coronavirus, why are we taking it in the first place? Both can't be true.'
The CDC says that fully vaccinated people can eat in a restaurant, provided it is well ventilated and they maintain social distancing.
On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, it states: 'We're still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you've been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions—like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces—in public places until we know more.'
Fauci said Wednesday that Carlson's speculation was 'certainly not helpful' and 'counter to what we try to accomplish to protect the health and the safety of the American public.'
During a CNN interview, he was asked about Carlson's claim that the vaccines did not work, but their uselessness was being kept a secret.
'That's just a typical crazy conspiracy theory,' said Fauci. 'Look at the data. I don't have any idea what he's talking about.'
The United States recorded 31,495,164 cases and 565,283 deaths from the coronavirus as of late Thursday night, according to data culled by Johns Hopkins University.
Over the past two weeks, cases are up by 11 percent while deaths have declined by 19 percent.
Meanwhile, the US is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine to 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said on Thursday.
It is also tracking infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, told a House subcommittee hearing.
Walensky said some of these infections occurred because the vaccinated person did not mount a strong immune response. But the concern is that in some cases, they are occurring in people infected by more contagious virus variants.
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