Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questions witnesses during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update on the ongoing Federal response to COVID-19, Thursday, June 16, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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UPDATED 5:04 PM PT – Thursday, June 16, 2022
The Senate Health Committee held a hearing regarding the ongoing federal response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Doctor Anthony Fauci appeared before the panel virtually Thursday, shortly after he tested positive for the virus himself. This didn’t stop the 81-year-old from sharing a heated exchange with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R).
“Can you tell me if anybody on the vaccine approval committees ever received any money from the people who make the vaccines?” Paul demanded.
This comes after the FDA green lit Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for kids under the age of five. Paul asked Fauci if he was aware of any studies that show reduction in hospitalization or death for children who take a booster. Fauci said there “hasn’t been enough data accumulated.”
“If I give a patient 10 mRNA vaccines and they make protein each time,” Paul questioned. “Is it true that we should give people 10 boosters?”
Prior to his testimony Fauci argued booster shots have shown to significantly reconstruct and enhance the level of antibodies that neutralize Omicron and other variants. Despite this claim, he received two booster shots before testing positive for the virus.
Congress provided $1.9 trillion for COVID-19 response last year.
Yet the Biden Admin can’t provide clear answers on where it went – even as they ask for billions more.@SenatorBurr: “Where’s that money gone? How’s it been spent? Where is it obligated?” pic.twitter.com/Twrf1Z9Yvg
— HELP Committee GOP (@GOPHELP) June 16, 2022
Meanwhile, the committee continued to discuss the White Houses request for additional COVID funding. Republican Senator Richard Burr (N.C.) claimed their needs to be accountability as to how the $1.9 trillion devoted to COVID was spent.