Anthony Fauci, one of President Joe Biden’s top COVID-19 advisers, admitted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not always rely on scientific data and evidence to inform its coronavirus mitigation guidelines.
Fauci conceded the fact on Wednesday after a CNN anchor pressed him on why the Biden administration and public health organization are still advising people who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine not to travel.
“They’re being careful, understandably. They want to get science, they want to get data, and then when you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, then you’ve got to make a judgment call,” Fauci explained.
Fauci, asked “what’s the science” for denying vaccinated Americans a return to travel, can’t explain.
“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
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 10, 2021
While Fauci said he believes “you’re going to see little by little more and more guidelines getting people to be more and more flexible,” the CDC’s evaluation “multi-step process” and newly released guidance only address one issue at a time as they see fit.
“The first installation of this is what can vaccinated people do in the home setting? 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,” Fauci said.
The newly released CDC guidelines for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 suggest they still socially distance, “avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces,” delay travel plans, and still wear a mask unless they’re with other vaccinated people or around low-risk individuals stemming from one household.
The CDC website claims the institution is still learning “how effective the vaccines are against variants of the virus that causes COVID-19,” “how well COVID-19 vaccines keep people from spreading the disease,” and “how long COVID-19 vaccines can protect people.”
