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The Biden administration’s handling of the Delta push has left Americans confused and frustrated, fueling media overreaction and political manipulation.
Why is this important: The past year and a half has left Americans cynical about the government’s COVID response and – in many cases – uninformed or uninformed. We have fog and reversals when stable, clear, and accurate factual information is needed more than ever.
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The last five days were a mess. On Tuesday, the CDC updated its guidelines to say that people vaccinated in hot spots should wear masks in indoor public places – with no simple, definitive way of knowing if you’re in a hot spot.
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This was a reversal from the CDC’s May 13 announcement – 75 days earlier – that fully vaccinated people could throw on masks in most indoor environments, which President Biden called “Great day for America in our long battle against the coronavirus”.
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The Washington Post on Thursday obtained a set from the CDC that included the revealing phrase: “The Delta variant is as transmissible as: – Chickenpox.”
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Yesterday, a CDC report showed the reversal was due in part to a cluster of COVID cases in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Cape Cod, in which three-quarters of those infected were fully vaccinated. Only a few people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
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The headline from today’s New York Times print: “IMMUNIZED PEOPLE CAN SPREAD THE VIRUS, THE CDC REPORT”. The online version adds the qualifier vital: “Although rarely.
The alarmist cover irritated the White House. A senior official in the Biden administration told CNN’s Oliver Darcy: “The media coverage does not match the moment … She has been hyperbolic and frankly irresponsible in a way that hardens hesitation over the vaccine.”
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Ben Wakana of the White House COVID Response Team tweeted: “VACCINATED PEOPLE DO NOT TRANSMIT THE VIRUS AT THE SAME RATE AS UNVACCINATED PEOPLE AND IF YOU DON’T INCLUDE THIS CONTEXT, YOU DO. “
Between the lines: Administration officials are awkwardly dancing that they no longer have any politically acceptable means to try and convince people to get vaccinated.
The bottom line: If you are vaccinated, of course, be more careful, but don’t stress. If you haven’t been vaccinated and can get vaccinated, go for it.
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