CLAIM: Dr. Anthony Fauci declared that anyone who is unvaccinated must be put under lockdown this winter.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A website that is known to publish misinformation misrepresented general comments Fauci made about the role of lockdowns during a pandemic during an April 15 interview. Fauci said that while lockdowns have a purpose, they are not a permanent solution. He did not say that anyone, including unvaccinated people, should be locked down in the coming months. Fauci confirmed to The Associated Press that he did not make such a statement.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing screenshots and links to a baseless blog post titled: “Fauci Declares That ALL Unvaccinated Citizens Must Be Locked Down This Winter.” The post begins by claiming that Fauci “urged the Biden administration” to implement such a measure.
But the claim is not true — and the post provides no evidence to back it up.
It comes from The People’s Voice, a website that was previously known as News Punch and has published numerous stories based on conspiracy theories, as well as fabricated information and quotes.
The post cites a live virtual interview hosted by Detroit’s Wayne State University in April, in which the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discussed lockdowns in addition to myriad other subjects.
At no point during the interview did Fauci suggest that unvaccinated people should be locked down this winter.
Instead, Fauci was asked a multi-part question about why lockdowns are used and whether the U.S. is prepared to manage a future pandemic without shutting down schools and businesses.
In response, he explained that although lockdowns can help stem the spread of disease, two critical issues must be addressed for them to work — when the lockdown will end and what will be done during the lockdown so that society can reopen safely. For example, he said, vaccinating a population or preparing hospitals for an influx of patients.
“Lockdown has a purpose,” Fauci stated. “One of the purposes, if you don’t have a vaccine, it’s to get more ventilators, get the hospitals better prepared, get more people involved in the healthcare sector to do it, until you decompress the pressure on the hospitals, then you can open up. If you have a vaccine available, you might want to lock down temporarily so you can get everybody vaccinated.”
Fauci, who retired from his role as the nation’s top infectious disease expert in December, confirmed that there is no truth to this claim.
“I did not say that or anything remotely resembling that statement, nor would I advocate that,” he told the AP in an email. “I do strongly advocate that unvaccinated people get vaccinated.”
The People’s Voice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Other false claims about alleged upcoming lockdowns have spread widely on social media in recent days amid a steady rise in U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations since early July.
Hospital admissions were at 12,613 for the week ending Aug. 12, though that’s a far cry from past peaks, such as the 44,000 weekly hospitalizations in early January, the nearly 45,000 in late July 2022, or the 150,000 admissions during the omicron surge in January 2022.
___
This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
#Fauci #didnt #unvaccinated #people #locked #winter
