Sen. Paul, Fauci clash over child vaccinations in Senate hearing

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul exchanged heated barbs with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday over vaccination policy for minors previously infected with COVID-19.

Paul questioned why Fauci dismissed the need for children to get a flu shot after infection but advocated a different approach for COVID-19. The Republican played a clip in which Fauci articulated his position related to the flu.

"If she got the flu for 14 days, she's as protected as anybody can be because the best vaccination is to get infected yourself," Fauci said in the 2004 clip, according to The Hill.

"What you're doing is denying the very fundamental premise of immunology that previous infection does provide some sort of immunity," Paul asserted. "People decry vaccine hesitancy. It's coming from the gobbledygook you give us."

"You're not paying attention to the science," Paul asserted.

Fauci, however, denied contradicting himself, saying "I have never, ever denied fundamental immunology. In fact, I wrote the chapter in the textbook of medicine on fundamental immunology."

The Kentucky Republican has previously clashed with Fauci over his pandemic policy positions and has vowed to pursue investigations into both the origins of the virus and the government response to it should the GOP secure the majority in the Senate after the November midterms.

The chief White House medical adviser announced his plans to step down at the end of the year, though Republicans have vowed not to drop their inquiries into his management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid ongoing investigations and lawsuits, Louisiana GOP Attorney General Jeff Landry told Just the News on Tuesday that retiring would not stop the party from pursuing Fauci.

"I can promise you retirement is not going to save [Fauci] from us," he said. "I want to know everything that Dr. Fauci hid from the American people."