WASHINGTON (CN) — Shooting down a “deep-state” conspiracy theory on the Covid-19 vaccine and eviscerating an unscientific claim that herd immunity lowered virus transmissions in hard-hit New York City were just two items on a packed agenda for public health officials called Wednesday to testify before Congress on the state of the pandemic.

It was a scene reminiscent of earlier hearings hosted by the Republican-controlled Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, fielded curt questions from Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, on the very science underpinning what the nation’s top experts know so far about