If Fauci really wanted more Americans to get vaccinated, he would quit

As a communications consultant, I know how to get a message across to a hesitant audience. This is the challenge facing public health officials in trying to change their minds about a third of Americans who, for a number of reasons, have chosen not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

I myself am part of this group. I have an autoimmune disease so I have serious questions about how the vaccine will affect me. Many other Americans have reasonable questions, and those questions should be answered with a transparent presentation of the facts – without intimidating people like President Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci.

Fauci in particular has been shown to be singularly ineffective as a primary communicator in the fight against COVID and should step down from that role.

Bullying tactics are the wrong communication strategy

Fauci and other government officials are taking bad advice when it comes to communicating with those who have yet to receive the vaccine. I always tell clients that a strong message that is based on its own merits, coupled with thoughtful persuasion, will help them achieve their goals. I would never advise bullying tactics. The unvaccinated deserve to be persuaded – not attacked, vilified or virtually spat on.

Insults, such as Biden’s recent search of unvaccinated Americans (“You’re not as smart as I thought”), don’t work. Likewise unnecessary are statements from above which cannot be disputed. Fauci goes on MSNBC and says that 100 million people who don’t get the vaccine are “the problem” won’t help a single person get the vaccine.

To answer in good faith the honest questions asked by many about vaccines, some of the “silent professionals” working behind the scenes (not the media darlings) are expected to hold a press conference, similar to those that took place at the start of the campaign. pandemic. They should explain their work on ongoing clinical trials, detail what has been learned, and answer tough questions from the press. Information on what the vaccine means for children, fertility, those who have had COVID and have antibodies, and those with autoimmune diseases needs to be addressed. Anyone who works in communications knows that if you treat people with respect and listen to their concerns, you are much more likely to get your point across.

Civil servants create confusion and spread blame

Now that the mask mandates are back, familiar patterns are starting to emerge again: confused advice from our public health officials, hesitation from our political leaders and, of course, the constant presence of Fauci – now “advising” Chief Medical Officer ”of the President – on our TV screens.

More than two-thirds of Americans are now vaccinated, but the delta variant of the virus that is currently circulating appears to be able to infect even those vaccinated, and it is these “groundbreaking” cases that have prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revert to its demands. mask.

“Even if you are vaccinated,” Fauci said, “you should wear a mask in indoor public places in areas with a high degree of transmissibility. “

For the little less than a third of Americans who haven’t been vaccinated, the world has changed. Politicians, the media and many in the toxic field of Twitter and Facebook accuse us of the rise of the delta variant and the increased risk of contracting the virus. Fauci, it should come as no surprise, leads the charge, telling Chris Hayes of MSNBC (of course): “Right now we have 100 million people in the United States who are eligible, who are not getting vaccinated. . This is the problem.”

Fauci’s story of imperfect orientation

In fact, the problem is Fauci himself. This is the same irreproachable expert who told Americans “there is no reason to walk around with a mask” in March 2020, and who a month earlier told an acquaintance that most masks were “not really effective at keeping the virus out, which is small enough to pass through the material.” Around the same time, his public health colleague, then-surgeon general Jerome Adams, frantically tweeted that Americans should “stop buying masks.”

By now, these inconsistencies in direction during the pandemic are well known – the “noble lies” have been told to the American people, supposedly for their own good. It was Fauci, remember, who first told us we needed to vaccinate 70% of Americans to get herd immunity, but then increased the number to 85% based on a public poll. Were we supposed to “trust the science” as we are so often told, or just accept Fauci’s “estimate” (as he called it at the time)? He also changed his story on the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis, dismissing those who advanced this theory with a brief “I don’t understand what they’re talking about” in May 2020, to tell the Wall Street Journal a year ago later that “we never ruled out the possibility”.

On top of all this, last summer millions took to the streets in tight groups to protest the death of George Floyd, throwing out the lockdown phase caution, and yet health experts public rushed to explain why it was now, in a way, allowed. Meanwhile, at our southern border, Texas police have discovered migrants who have apparently been freed in that country by border patrol despite testing positive for COVID-19. Protesters and illegal immigrants – two privileged constituencies on the left – appear to have been granted a pass on these strict health regulations.

Reasonable doubts

With inconsistent guidelines and inconsistent application of those guidelines by medical professionals, is it really that hard to ask why some Americans are wondering if they can trust what they’re told about the vaccine?

Just a reminder: these vaccines are still only labeled for emergency use and are not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. There are still concerns about the effects on women who are pregnant or wanting to become pregnant, and little information about the effects on people who have had COVID, those with autoimmune diseases, and children.

But here we are. It is August 2021, Fauci is still the face of this pandemic, and the fatigue is real.

It’s time to put a new face on the public health response to the pandemic. Or, better yet, no unique “face” at all, just honest experts who don’t seek fame but simply present their facts fairly and simply. Raising Fauci to celebrity status, a development he seems to have enjoyed very much, has actually diminished his trustworthiness in the eyes of many Americans. If he really wants more Americans to get vaccinated, rather than more TV appearances, media profiles, and other accolades for himself, he should acknowledge that and step back to let others plead their case. cause.