Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines regarding vaccinated Americans will continue to get more flexible as time goes on, and that sometimes a “judgment call” must be made when making those guidelines that may not necessarily be backed by “actual evidence.”
Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Biden, made the comments after CNN’s John Berman asked why the CDC is telling all Americans to avoid unnecessary travel, regardless of vaccination status.
“What’s the science behind not saying it’s safe for people who have been vaccinated, received two doses, to travel?” Mr. Berman asked.
Dr. Fauci sidestepped the question, explaining that the CDC’s updated guidelines unveiled Monday “was the first in a multistep process that they are going to be rolling out.”
“They’re being careful, understandably. They want to get science, they want to get data,” he said. “And when you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, then you’ve got to make a judgment call. And I think that’s what you’re going to be seeing in the next weeks. You’re going to see little by little, more and more guidelines getting people to be more and more flexible.
“The first installation of this is what can vaccinated people do in the home setting,” he continued. “Obviously, the next one is going to be what you’re asking. What about travel? What about going out? What about getting a haircut? What about doing things like that? That’s all imminently going to be coming out.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday that the CDC is not updating its travel guidance at this time and that everyone should continue to avoid nonessential trips.
“We would like to give the opportunity to vaccinated grandparents to visit their grandchildren and children who are healthy and who are local, but our travel guidance currently has been unchanged,” she said.
The new guidance says people who are fully vaccinated can visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing. Vaccinated people can also visit with low-risk, non-vaccinated people from another household without wearing masks or social distancing.
Fully vaccinated people are still being advised to wear masks and social distance in public and to avoid crowds.
Fauci, asked “what’s the science” for denying vaccinated Americans a return to travel, can’t explain.
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 10, 2021
“When you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, you’ve got to make a judgment call.” pic.twitter.com/lftvNzgA6J
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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