I feel a little let down and misled after Fauci admitted the 6ft rule probably didn’t have scientific basis

That recommendation came from the CDC. I recall seeing some ANSYS fluent modeling of particulates from coughs and sneezes in confined spaces. That showed how wearing masks would be beneficial. It all came down to reducing the load we received. Cigarette smoke particles can hold hundreds of covid viruses on each one so if you could smell the smoke, the mask was pretty much worthless. When we had no immunity at all, just a few viruses were all it took. There were some papers out there suggesting that people with Neanderthal DNA possibly had more resistance to corona viruses but since this one was a weaponize strain that probably didn’t help. I participated in the testing of one of the immunizations and was so happy when my blood test indicated i had immunity!!

The devil is in the details. Did he say it didn't have any merit at any point or that it wasn't enough in hindsight?

It’s all lies.

I remember when he said as everybody was adopting the 6 ft rule, "Or more like 12..."

Here's the thing. And this is a thing that's been proven. With a mask on, a human sneeze can only travel about six feet, maybe a little more. There's video footage that proves it.

Somewhere on YouTube, there's a video that I can't currently find. They took ballistic dummies, and they put CO2 cartridges in them to simulate the effects of a sneeze. Just to demonstrate visually, they put the CO2 cartridges under these tanks of water with green food coloring. One dummy was wearing a mask, one was not. The dummy with the mask on only propelled green liquid about six feet. The dummy without the mask propelled the liquid 13 feet.

So, like with all things, the answer is yes and no. Depends on how considerate everybody's being.

if COVID has done anything for me 👍 it's improved my sense of humor