More than 27 million Americans completely vaccinated against coronavirus will have to keep waiting for guidance from federal health officials on what they should and should not do.
The Biden administration said on Friday that it was focused on getting the right guidance and accommodating emerging science, but the delays add to the uncertainty surrounding ending the pandemic. as the nation’s virus fatigue increases.
“These are complex issues and science is evolving rapidly,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday. “We make sure and take the time to do it right and we will publish this guide soon.”
These guidelines would address a flood of questions from people who have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19: Do I still need to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?
The need has grown slowly since January, when the first Americans began completing the series of two doses of COVID-19 vaccines available at the time.
In Washington state, Raúl Espinoza Gómez has 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and an appointment Saturday for his second dose of coronavirus vaccine.
By Easter, the 77-year-old’s immune system will be ready to protect him from the virus. But how he celebrates the family will depend on government advice, said Melissa Espinoza, 47, of Carnation, Washington, who plans to drive Gomez, her father-in-law, to get her second shot.
“We didn’t get together as a big family for Christmas,” he said. “We follow what the state and federal guidelines recommend. We have had family members negatively affected by COVID. We know the risks are serious. “
Concerned about the persistent burdens and deaths of cases, the Biden administration has condemned efforts to relax states’ virus restrictions and begged the public for a few more months of patience.
The precaution has attracted critics, who point to the administration’s own warnings that “fatigue wins” as proof that they need to be more optimistic about the way forward to ensure the cooperation of those who are still vaccinated.
“I think it’s going to be overly outlawed and conservative and that’s the wrong message,” former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb of the upcoming CDC guide told CNBC on Wednesday. “If we continue to be very outlawed and don’t give people a realistic view of what a better future will be like, they will start ignoring public health guidelines.”
Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Division of Health and Public Health Policies, encouraged the CDC to be clearer when and how it plans to produce guidelines for the vaccine.
“Making the decision to follow science is also making the decision that you will have to make a decision, which is really difficult when science is not solved,” he told the AP. “They’re drinking from a science fire hose and sometimes it gets messy.”
More than 54 million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine and just over half (nearly 28 million) have obtained the two recommended doses. The single-dose shot of Johnson & Johnson a couple million more Americans will soon be added with questions about what new freedoms they can safely enjoy.
“I hope to be able to see my great-grandchildren more,” said 92-year-old Rolando Solar, who received his second dose in Miami on Wednesday. “But I know things won’t get back to normal and, for an old man like me, he’s as good as he will be.”
Tami Katz-Freiman, 65, of Miami, received her second dose three weeks ago and is scheduled to see the Miami Film Festival virtually Sunday at the home of unvaccinated friends. Everyone will wear masks.
“We haven’t had to discuss it among ourselves, because it’s very clear to me that when there’s a doubt and you don’t have a direct CDC standard, it’s better to be safe and take care of yourself,” Katz said Freiman .
Three weeks ago, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people should not go into quarantine if they have contact with someone with a confirmed infection (for 90 days after the final start). But the agency said nothing further, said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University.
“This (quarantine guide) seems to me to imply that your chance of hiring COVID-19 and being a carrier for other people is pretty low,” said Wen, who previously headed the Baltimore health department.
“(But) we have to focus on what’s most relevant to people’s lives, and my patients don’t come in and ask me,‘ If I’m vaccinated, do I still have to quarantine if I’m exposed? ’” He continued. .
“I would say the most common question I have is‘ can I visit my grandchildren? Wen said.
Experts say it is understandable that the CDC has been cautious when many scientific questions remain, including the duration of vaccine-induced immunity and whether vaccinated people can still transmit the virus to others. Answers are important in advising someone what type of risk they face in different environments and how much risk they have for others.
“The vaccines at the best time, in the clinical trials, were 95% effective, I did not say 100%. And that’s why we have to keep wearing masks most of the time, ”said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
But CDC has had to come up with something more for vaccinated people than sticking with the same old mask that carried social guidance for distancing, he added.
“People are eager to do something and want to see some tangible benefit from vaccines. Americans are impatient. They want to keep it up, ”Schaffner said.
In fact, “there is a real cost to postponing this guidance,” as people turn to their own doctors for advice or simply make their own assumptions and decisions, Wen said.
Waiting too long may diminish the agency’s relevance on such issues, said Wen, who believes CDC should have had some sort of guidance for people vaccinated in January.
It is clear that vaccinated people should be encouraged to get tested for cancer, dental care or other necessary medical consultations. CDC officials could also have said it’s okay for small groups of fully vaccinated people (maybe two or three couples, for example) to gather for dinner or hold another small meeting, he said.
Regarding small gatherings between people who have been completely vaccinated, “the relative risk is so low that you should not wear a mask, you could have a good social gathering at home,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s medical leader. infectious diseases, during a recent White House briefing.
Some experts discussed the possibility that cinemas, cruise ships or other companies could open up to vaccinated people and ask for proof of vaccination status. The Israeli government has begun issuing a “green pass” vaccination certificate to anyone who has received two doses of COVID vaccine through an accredited vaccination service.
“I don’t know if in this country we would tolerate the federal government issuing some kind of approval, as they did in Israel,” Wen said. But companies may want these permits and they would be an incentive that could help the overall vaccination rate, Wen said.
The only incentive Espinoza’s family needed for vaccination was to see her and her husband admitted with COVID-19 this winter. He is still recovering, using oxygen at home.
Vaccination of elderly relatives means a step closer to returning to the traditions they love: the church on Palm Sunday and, a week later, an Easter egg hunt for children and a meal with cooked barbecue slowly, a Mexican beef dish.
“I hope people stay home and be as safe as possible until we can all get vaccinated and eradicate this disease,” Espinoza said.
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This story has been updated to correct Gottlieb’s first name.
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Associated Press reporter Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.