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Disease control
In 2009, Paul was interviewed by conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, and suggested mandatory vaccination would be akin to martial law. On February 2, 2015, he told Fox TV host Laura Ingraham regarding vaccinations, that "most should be voluntary." His remarks generated controversy by suggesting that states should not require parents to vaccinate their children, because parents should have the freedom to make that decision for their children. Later that day, in an interview with CNBC, Paul clarified this statement, commenting "I'm not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they are a good thing, but I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn't own your children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom." Afterward, he added about vaccines, "I've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." On February 3, he posted a photograph to Twitter of himself being vaccinated.
In 2014, Paul argued that the Obama administration and the Centers for Disease Control were downplaying the threat posed by Ebola virus in the United States. Ultimately, nine people infected with Ebola returned in the United States, two nurses contracted the disease within the US, and two of the returning travelers died.
In early May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Paul said that stay-at-home orders amounted to "dictatorship" by Kentucky's Democratic Governor Andy Beshear. Paul clashed with Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a Senate committee hearing on September 23, 2020. Paul asked Fauci if he had "second thoughts" about the CDC's mitigation recommendations, including mask-wearing and maintaining a six feet space of social distancing. Paul said New York's high fatality rate showed that mitigation efforts were insufficient. Fauci replied, "You've misconstrued that Senator, and you've done that repetitively in the past," saying that New York had succeeded in getting the virus under control by adhering to the CDC's clinical guidelines. In May 2021, during President Biden's push to convince more Americans to be vaccinated, Paul said he personally was choosing not to get the COVID vaccine, justifying his decision by saying that "I’ve already had the disease and I have natural immunity" and that "in a free country...each individual would get to make the medical decision."
At Senate hearings in May and July 2021, Sen. Paul debated Dr. Anthony Fauci on the origin's of COVID-19, gaining media attention for his views. In July 2021, Fauci responded to Paul's allegations and called him a liar.
Huru-ukko, monella muullakin tapaa.
