Health

Birx: Biden Admin Was ‘Hoping,’ Not Lying, When It Said Vaccines Would Stop COVID Spread

(Screenshot/C-Span)

Dylan Housman Deputy News Editor
Font Size:

Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as former President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said Thursday that the federal government wasn’t “lying” when it said COVID-19 vaccines would stop transmission of the virus, but “hoping.”

Birx was testifying before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis when she was pressed by Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan about whether the government had lied about COVID-19 vaccines. He referenced numerous claims from 2021 in which federal health agencies and officials said vaccinated people can’t catch or spread COVID-19.

WATCH:

“When the government told us, told the American people that people who had been vaccinated couldn’t get it, were they guessing or were they lying?” Jordan asked.

“I don’t know,” Birx answered.

“You’re saying in this administration that you can’t rule out the fact that our government was lying to us when they told us the vaccinated could not get the virus,” Jordan responded. He acknowledged that Birx had served under the previous administration, not the current Biden team, which made many of the claims about vaccination.

“I don’t know about their discussions that they had in the task force,” she said. “So I can’t tell you that.”

“When the government told us that the vaccinated couldn’t transmit it, was that a lie or was that a guess?” Jordan continued. “Or is it the same answer?”

“I think it was hope that the vaccine would work in that way,” Birx said. (RELATED: Expert Panel Says Americans Should Have Given Fauci More Power, Not Less, To Stop Pandemic)

In December 2021, President Joe Biden falsely claimed that vaccinated individuals cannot spread COVID-19. In May 2021, Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccinated people are a “dead end” for the virus, because it is “extremely unlikely” for them to spread it to others.

“What we do know is it wasn’t the truth. So they were either guessing, lying or hoping, and communicating that information to the citizens of this country,” Jordan reiterated.

“I think they were hoping,” Birx once again answered.