Dr. Fauci’s 60 Minutes Interview
Hi, I’m Dr. Chad Larson. The COVID intervention that by far had the least amount of scientific attention is mask wearing. It’s one of the things that’s most universally applied. But as we’ll remember, at the beginning there was some definite flip-flopping that was happening. And this is justified. Remember at the beginning, there’s a 60 Minutes interview with Dr. Fauci in which he laughed it off. You can look it up on YouTube; he sort of laughed off the idea of people wearing a mask as totally unnecessary. And what I think he was responding to was studies that were done well before COVID on other respiratory type viruses like influenza. There are plenty of studies that show that mask wearing is really ineffective to stop the spread of a respiratory-based virus. So I really think that’s what the comment was about.
Mask Efficacy Study
But obviously, through some statistical gymnastics, some really poorly done studies show that maybe there’s some efficacy. However, when it comes to scientific papers, the ones that are kind of the gold standard are randomized clinical trials or RCTs. And to my knowledge, there’s only been two RCTs done on masks: one in Denmark, and one in Bangladesh.
Large-Scale Bangladesh Study
The one in Bangladesh was the more robust study, at least from a population standpoint. Hundreds of thousands of people were enrolled in the study. And you can certainly read it for yourself, but it basically comes down to their conclusion that mask wearing was not helpful. And it was powered to include lots of people so the results I think are sound. There are some other general issues with the study. For example, you would know if you’re in the mask group or in the control group because they’re wearing a mask. So it’s not like this can be a double blind study where you didn’t know if you were part of the intervention or not. If you’re wearing a mask, it’s pretty obvious that you’re part of the intervention group. But with so many people in the test, it’s a good study in that regard to show that the efficacy was very poor.
What Gives?
And then it begs the question, okay, well what about for kids? Because as you may know, some policies, even in the more strict mask mandate states like California, the state that I’m in, the indoor mask mandate for adults in public places, going to the store, etc. has been lifted. It’s no longer mandated. But for kids in school, the mandate persists. So what’s up with that? Now the norm is no masking indoors.
So for kids to still be wearing masks indoors is now against the norm. And so that policy absolutely has to be validated scientifically. We need to pressure our schools and district and state to answer the question beyond doubt, incontrovertibly, that this is absolutely necessary. Now that it’s against the norm, the burden of proof is on those who suggest that this is still an important and necessary thing.
And if you look at the two randomized clinical trials, kids aren’t even included in the study in Bangladesh, the more robust study. They’re just not a part of it.
No Scientific Validation
If we go back and read articles of scientists that have researched this and looked at all the studies, I think the Brownstone Institute is a good website to check out. They’ve got a whole section on masks and really great, thoughtful articles that dig into all these studies. And it’s very clear that there’s no efficacy and certainly no efficacy for kids. And this is not to mention all the downstream issues that happen with long-term mask wearing for kids. I mean, there’s just so many, I don’t want to go into that too much right now.
I just want to stick to one point: that the indoor mandate has been lifted, except for kids in schools. And the burden of proof is on those who think that it’s still necessary.
The policy in general any time an intervention is suggested is that there also needs to be a description and understanding of the end point of that intervention. And do you know the endpoint? Have you been informed at what point this mask mandate is supposed to be lifted? For kids? We don’t know. It’s just a totally arbitrary recommendation. Certainly not backed by science. The science is clear on that. There’s no endpoint and so it’s just a completely arbitrary suggestion.
-Dr. Chad Larson
It’s incumbent upon us as parents because kids don’t know how to fight for themselves. There are some kids, fortunately, that are trying to demonstrate their desire for ending the mask mandates. But this has to happen for the adults, right? Who are supposed to be thinking critically for ourselves and not just parroting information that politically appointed public health officials are telling us. If we’re thinking critically and logically, then we realize that this ongoing suggestion that kids should be wearing a mask at school is logically inconsistent with the rest of the policies that are changing over time.
Speak To Your Local School District
So that’s the main point of the episode today. There’s no reason that kids should be wearing a mask in school. And we need to speak to the local schools, need to speak to districts, and finally the state and put the pressure on other people who think that this is necessary and demand some kind of proof that this is absolutely important and necessary to be ongoing. So I’ll keep reading the studies and bringing you the information. Until then. Keep it real.
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