Did Dr. Fauci ever say the COVID-19 vaccine means you won’t get COVID?
Short answer: No. He did not claim vaccination would completely prevent infection. In May 2021 he said that vaccinated people were very unlikely to transmit the virus and described them as a “dead end to the virus,” while explicitly noting transmission was “not impossible.”
- May 16, 2021 – Face the Nation (CBS):
“It is very unlikely that a vaccinated person, even if there’s a breakthrough infection, would transmit it to someone else. not impossible, but very, very low likelihood.”
“In other words, you become a dead end to the virus.”
Source: CBS transcript
How his public statements evolved (Delta era)
By late July/early August 2021, as Delta surged, Fauci discussed new data showing breakthrough infections and the potential for transmission among vaccinated individuals.
- July 30, 2021 – NPR interview on “alarming” new breakthrough data:
NPR interview transcript/audio - August 1, 2021 – Face the Nation appearance amid Delta wave:
CBS transcript
Commonly confused/misattributed statements
- CDC Director Rochelle Walensky (not Fauci) said on March 29, 2021 that CDC data “suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick.” The CDC later clarified that evidence was not definitive on transmission and she was “speaking broadly.”
- Business Insider (walk-back): article
- CNN fact-check roundup: article
- A 2004 C-SPAN clip of Fauci saying “the best vaccination is to get infected yourself” was about influenza in a specific caller’s case during a flu vaccine shortage; it did not concern COVID-19 and is out of context if applied to SARS-CoV-2.
- USA Today fact check: article
TL;DR
- Fauci never promised “you won’t get COVID if vaccinated.”
- In May 2021, based on early data, he said transmission from vaccinated people was very unlikely – “not impossible” – and called them a “dead end to the virus.”
- With Delta, he publicly acknowledged breakthrough infections and potential transmission among vaccinated people.
- A strong “no infection/no transmission” claim came from CDC’s Walensky in March 2021, but CDC later clarified it; that statement is often misattributed to Fauci.