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Fauci acknowledges 'nudging' herd-immunity estimates
NYT interview: Fauci described raising herd-immunity percentage targets partly based on polling about vaccine willingness, not solely new science.
Primary quotes
Fauci
“When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent. Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85.”
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Related contentions
Public-health policy
Policy history documented; scientific consensus evolved; political dispute remains.