Here is what Google says, “Yes, early in the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci implied that classic "herd immunity" against COVID-19 was a possible and desirable goal that could be achieved through widespread vaccination. He hoped the U.S. could attain this "umbrella of protection" by late spring or early summer of 2021, which would allow society to approach normalcy.”
A noble lie is still a lie.
Fauci’s “herd immunity” comments came before Delta and Omicron turned one virus into a family reunion. Updating that view wasn’t deceit. It was responding to evidence, something the “verify, don’t trust” crowd supposedly likes, except when the verification disagrees with their memes.
If we agree on it....why wouldn't you take it? I got the impression from your post that you generally aren't going to?
Or more simply....who cares what Fauci said? I literally had to look up who that is.
That's not what happened here though. These vaccines never stopped transmission, they suppressed symptoms and people just hoped/assumed they stopped transmission.
In late 2020 this was an open question people were talking about, because in development and safety testing they never even looked at transmission, only symptoms. Pfizer's announcement in particular was very careful to distinguish SARS-CoV-2 from COVID-19, intentionally not saying anything about infection/transmission. So they were being rolled out before we had any answers there. It became clear only a couple months later - well before any major "new variants" - that people were still getting infected at the same rates as before vaccination.
What, never stopped a single case of transmission? That's just not reality.
> well before any major "new variants" people were still getting infected at the same rates as before vaccination.
This too is not reality.
The definition of “vaccine” never secretly changed. It was clarified to include immune responses that reduce severe disease and transmission rather than guarantee sterilizing immunity. That’s immunology, not conspiracy. Every major vaccine like flu, pertussis, rotavirus all have that same property.
mRNA COVID vaccines still saved tens of millions of lives worldwide and sharply cut hospitalization rates, even after variants eroded transmission blocking. Boosters are needed because immunity wanes and variants keep changing, just like flu shots.
So yes: “trust, but verify” is good advice. But the verification process already happened through global trials, regulatory review, and post-marketing data. The people misleading you are the ones pretending scientific self-correction is the same as deceit.