Dr Fauci DEFENDS right not to get vaccinated after Chris Cuomo demands to know why federal government hasn't made vaccine passports mandatory

- Dr Anthony Fauci told Chris Cuomo mandatory vaccine passports would 'discriminate' against people by forcing them to get vaccinated
- Fauci said: 'I don't know the answer,' when pressed on why states and private organizations - such as colleges - were being allowed to impose passports
- Fauci's comments came as he admitted the CDC's guidance has been confused
- Fully-vaccinated Americans no longer have to wear face masks
- Cuomo and others have questioned how it's possible to know whether someone going bare-faced has been vaccinated

VaccinePassports

America's most senior COVID-19 expert has defended people's right not to get a COVID-19 shot after being asked why vaccination passports are not mandatory. Appearing on Chris Cuomo's CNN show Wednesday, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci argued with Cuomo when grilled about why the federal government wasn't introducing a nationwide 'passport' as proof of vaccination. Cuomo asked him: 'If you're not vaccinated...you will cheat. And the fix here is something that's been studiously avoided by the (Biden) administration, and I don't know why, except for just basic politics. You have to have a tracking mechanism, you have to have a vaccine passport, otherwise this will never work. Why do they avoid the passport?' Fauci, who also serves as the Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: 'I don't have the answer... It's a complex reason. And one of them is that if you...require a passport, you're going to be discriminating against people and putting people at a disadvantage of essentially forcing them in many respects to get vaccinated.' Cuomo countered by asking Fauci why people who choose not to get vaccinated should get 'opportunities' - such as removing face masks and ignoring social distancing rules - recently afforded to people who have been vaccinated.

Passports would see vaccinated people present electronic proof of their inoculation, such as a QR code, which could be scanned with a reader. They have been heralded as a way of getting crowds of people safely back into bars, cinemas, nightclubs, and as a means of helping end ongoing international travel bans. 'What the administration is saying is that they're not going to mandate a passport for vaccines centrally,' Fauci said. He also noted that some organizations - such as some colleges - are already requiring proof of vaccination. But Cuomo pressed again, questioning why the federal government should leave it to organizations to decide when they have the resources to roll out a vaccine passport program. President Biden has previously said he has no plans to try and impose a federal vaccine passport mandate over privacy concerns. Fauci said some states and private organizations planned to bring them in, including many US colleges, who say they won't let students on campus this fall without one. But addressing the wider question of a federal vaccine passport, Fauci continued: 'Chris - I don't have the answer for you. You could make a good argument for that, Chris, I'm not arguing with you. But the policy is - they don't want to do it centrally. They don't want to have a central diktat that you have to have a passport because they don't want to put people in compromised position, I hear you argument, you're saying well, then get vaccinated, period.'

Cuomo also highlighted New York's Excelsior Pass vaccine passport, pioneered by his brother Andrew Cuomo, governor of the Empire State. It sees fully vaccinated people download a phone app, which allows them to enter personal details and obtain a scannable QR code that serves as a passport. The Excelsior Pass will be used to let fully-vaccinated people into sports fixtures where they can sit close to others, and the passes could also be used by bars, theaters as well as nightclubs in the coming months. The city still requires vaccinated people to wear masks on public transportation, hospitals and jails, and unvaccinated people to wear them as before. Multiple states including Florida, Idaho and Montana have banned vaccine passports over fears the infringe on citizen's right to privacy. Cuomo previously hailed his brother's efforts to tackle COVID in the early days of the crisis - and repeatedly interviewed him on the show. But CNN bosses have since banned their star from doing so after Governor Cuomo was accused of covering up nursing home deaths, and being a prolific sex pest. The Governor denies those claims.

Doctor Fauci also spoke about ongoing confusion over the United States' newly relaxed mask rules. Centers for Disease Control guidance says fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks in any setting, although some states have continued to impose rules, regardless of whether people have been vaccinated or not. Interviewing Dr Fauci, Chris Cuomo said for him, the answer on mask guidance should be simple. 'If you're vaccinated you don't have to wear a mask,' Cuomo said. 'If you're not vaccinated, nothing has changed, but you will cheat. He doesn't have the answer. Fauci doesn't have the answer? They call the vaccine the 'Fauci Ouchie', now you don't have the answer?' Cuomo joked. 'I know that this is politics, but just look what's happening. New York State's got the Excelsior pass, other people have it. Fauci raised the issue of vaccination passports earlier in the interview, when saying one of the problems facing establishments the latest mask mandate is that there is currently no way for people to prove they have been vaccinated. He said that meant business owners could ask for customers to continue to wear masks, as they will have no way of knowing whether or not customers have been fully-vaccinated. 'So where the confusion is, is that people are saying: "Wait a minute, some people are saying you don't have to wear masks when you're vaccinated. And now you're telling me when I go into an establishment, I have to wear a mask?" 'And you're right, it is confusing and fairness to the people who are trying to make heads or tails of that it can be confusing,' Fauci said.

The White House has so far ruled out the introduction of vaccine passports, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying on Monday: '[The CDC guidance] has not changed our view that the federal government will not be playing that role,' Psaki said. 'The private sector may, and it may prompt the private sector moving forward on actions, which is where we think it is appropriately situated.' In April, she said: 'The government is not now, nor will we be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential.'

In a separate interview with Axios on Wednesday, Fauci acknowledged the confusion around the updated CDC guidance for wearing masks. He told the news website that he thought people were 'misinterpreting' the new guidance, 'thinking that this is a removal of a mask mandate for everyone. 'It's not,' Fauci said. 'It's an assurance to those who are vaccinated that they can feel safe, be they outdoors or indoors.' The physician added that he felt it was not people's fault for the misinterpretation. 'People either read them quickly, or listen and hear half of it. They are feeling that we're saying: 'You don't need the mask anymore.' That's not what the CDC said. 'They said: If you are vaccinated, you can feel safe — that you will not get infected either outdoors or indoors. It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks,' Fauci said. Cuomo said he agreed that it wasn't American's fault for the misinterpretation, and instead placed the blame for the confusion on the CDC. Fauci stopped short of blaming the CDC himself, but added: 'I believe that the the source of the confusion is the fact that the CDC made the change in guidelines purely to allow people who've been fully vaccinated to realize that the scientific data itself indicates that it is safe for them to go without a mask, not only outdoors, but also indoors. 'That was meant for those who are fully vaccinated. What happened is that that triggered in interpretation that we can now just throw masks away and nobody has to wear masks, which is obviously not the case. Because for those who have not been vaccinated, their original guidelines stay exactly the same.'

On May 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted its mask mandate, with new guidance saying people who have been fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask indoors or outdoors, with some exceptions.People must still wear masks in healthcare settings, homeless shelters, prison and jails, and while on public transport. However, the CDC's recommendation is just that - an unenforceable recommendation. States, cities and businesses can still require masks, leading to a patchwork of different rules across the country. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, has said that the state will keep its mask order in place for another month, while Andrew Cuomo - New York's governor, said it would lift mask requirements on Wednesday, but keep it in some settings. Many US businesses - including supermarkets Trader Joe's and Walmart - say they'll no longer ask customers to wear face masks in states which have lifted mask mandates. They will not ask shoppers for proof they have been vaccinated.

More than a third of the U.S. population - and 45 percent of adults - are now fully vaccinated, and nearly 60 percent of adults have had at least a first shot. As vaccination has become widespread, scientists in the U.S. - and especially in Israel - have had a chance to see real-world proof that the shots prevent almost all transmission. Last week, President Joe Biden told Americans who have their full COVID vaccine to remove their face masks and his wife Jill, visiting West Virginia, did just that. 'If you're fully vaccinated, take your mask off. You've earned the right to do something that Americans are known for all around the world, greeting others with a smile,' President Biden said during remarks in the White House Rose Garden.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think it's fair to say, the mask thing is now a mess" - Chris Cuomo
Full interview: Cuomo and Fauci

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Quote
MisterDDDD
Not seeing the lie that you so desperately want to hang your hat on son.

And frankly, it isn't relevant. Giving the best info until more is known, data collected, theories proven or disproven, is what was needed.

And since when is "playing it safe", all things considered, a horrific thing?

If I had to walk around for another 2 months wearing a mask, just to be on the safe side...especially for others still waiting to get the vax, I wouldn't have the slightest problem with that. It's called living in a society.

Quote
treaclefingers

Quote
MisterDDDD
Not seeing the lie that you so desperately want to hang your hat on son.

And frankly, it isn't relevant. Giving the best info until more is known, data collected, theories proven or disproven, is what was needed/warranted.

And since when is "playing it safe", all things considered, a horrific thing?

If I had to walk around for another 2 months wearing a mask, just to be on the safe side...especially for others still waiting to get the vax, I wouldn't have the slightest problem with that. It's called living in a society.

Exactly.

Most of those on the right that are opposed to the masks, vaxxes, et al used to advocate "personal responsibility" a LOT as I recall. Now they want the gubmint to tell them how to utilize common sense. Most every responsible person is still wearing masks and looking out for themselves and others and will continue as needed.

Quote
MisterDDDD
Not seeing the lie that you so desperately want to hang your hat on son.

And frankly, it isn't relevant. Giving the best info until more is known, data collected, theories proven or disproven, is what was needed.

Some folks are just uninterested in facts and data, and science and medicine so you might as well go talk to a rock in your yard, just as much will get through to it...

The only reason I wore a mask, and continue to do so as conditions warrant, was out of respect for other people. I personally think a mask does the wearer little if any good, especially if one can breathe freely through it (those fashionista bandanas etc). But it can prevent your tainted breath from reaching others and spreading an infection, so I wear it as appropriate.

People need to remember the original instrux: don't touch stuff you don't have to, wash or sanitize your hands, cover your mouth, respect other people and for the most part you will be golden. The vaccination is just icing on the cake that allows one to get sloppy.

All this other stuff is basically T****ian denial and distraction and should be given the place it so rightly deserves: in the "ignore me" dustbin.

jb

California will mandate masks for another month. Texas will ban mask mandates in schools. Are both states going too far?
Andrew Romano


TheMask

No aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic has polarized the American people quite like masks. And nothing better demonstrates the intensity of this polarization than the wildly different ways that America’s two most populous states, California and Texas, have responded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s sudden May 13 announcement that fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to cover their faces in most indoor situations.

In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom deliberated over the weekend, then dispatched his health and human services secretary, Mark Ghaly, on Monday to tell the public he would not be lifting the state’s existing mask mandate until June 15, the date when California businesses have long been scheduled to fully reopen. “This four-week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue the relentless focus on delivering vaccines,” Ghaly explained. In Texas, meanwhile, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott decided Tuesday to sign an executive order prohibiting public schools and government facilities from requiring masks — even though the vast majority of Texas kids have not yet been vaccinated, and even though the CDC’s latest guidance explicitly says that students should continue to cover their faces in class. “We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans’ liberty to choose whether or not they mask up,” Abbott said in a statement. Any local officials who defy his order will be fined up to $1,000. To be clear, both Newsom and Abbott are outliers here.

After the CDC’s shift last week — which came because vaccinated people are extremely unlikely to transmit or fall ill from the virus — most blue states, including New York, Oregon and Illinois, decided to end or relax their mask mandates for vaccinated residents; only New Jersey and Hawaii sided with California and chose to keep their current requirements in place a little longer. And while nearly every Republican governor has now eschewed statewide mandates for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents alike, only Florida’s Ron DeSantis has gone so far as to order city and county governments to suspend any remaining emergency measures. But unlike Abbott, he has not barred schools from requiring masks. Predictably, observers on either side of the mask issue have reacted with outrage. “Gavin Newsom says he doesn’t dispute the CDC’s new mask guidance but will nevertheless ignore it,” fumed California GOP Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a vocal Newsom critic. “At least he no longer pretends to care about ‘science.’”“This is also incredibly ironic and hypocritical of Texas Republican leadership knowing their old motto that local and small govt govern better than state govts,” tweeted liberal epidemiologist and health economist Eric Feigl-Ding. “But now they impose state rules over local govts.” All of which raises the question: Are both Newsom and Abbott going too far?

The first thing to note is that neither California’s “caution” nor Texas’s “haste” will likely change the current trajectory of the outbreaks in either state. California is currently averaging the fewest daily COVID-19 cases per capita in the country: just three for every 100,000 residents. Texas is logging more than twice as many (seven for 100,000 residents, on average), but daily case counts there have fallen by a third over the last two weeks to the lowest level in nearly a year — despite the fact that, in early March, Abbott made Texas the first state in America to abolish its mask mandate and lift capacity constraints for all businesses. As the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson has noted, Abbott’s previous loosening of the rules has so far had essentially “no effect on COVID cases, employment, mobility, or retail foot traffic, in either liberal or conservative areas.” Why? Probably because “individual behavior is more important than state mandates” at this late stage of the U.S. pandemic. Texas's policy change “didn’t get pro-mask ppl to ditch their mask,” Thompson theorized, “and anti-maskers had already ditched theirs.” Likewise, 42 percent of Texans have already received at least one vaccine dose, and an estimated 30 percent or more have antibodies acquired through prior infection. So even if Abbott’s policy shifts do ultimately lead to more unmasked indoor activity, expanding immunity and warming weather are making it harder and harder for the virus to spread. By the same token, a full 54 percent of Californians have already gotten at least one COVID-19 shot and California has logged the most cases of any state, so immunity is likely providing even more protection there than in Texas.

Which isn’t to say mask policies are irrelevant, at least not yet. It’s just that the stakes for public health are much lower than they used to be — so much lower, in fact, that both Newsom and Abbott seem to have had the luxury of thinking more about messaging than mitigation when making their contrasting calls on masks.Take Texas. Just 104,000 residents ages 12 to 15 have been vaccinated so far — a tiny fraction of that overall age group. Residents under 12, meanwhile, are not yet eligible. Nearly the entire school-age population of the state can still spread or get sick from COVID-19. So even though the risk of serious illness is much lower for younger people, encouraging schools to stop mandating masks before students have had time to get vaccinated might seem gratuitous, particularly when you consider that Abbott himself won’t actually start fining school districts that continue mandating masks until after June 4, or roughly the end of the current school year. Unless, that is, Abbott is trying to send a message.

Newsom’s calculation in California isn’t all that different. According to the state’s existing rules, vaccinated residents are already allowed to go maskless outdoors (except at crowded events such as concerts and festivals) and indoors while socializing with other fully vaccinated people. The latest CDC guidance simply says that vaccinated people can also safely take off their masks, if they choose, in public indoor spaces such as shops and grocery stores without putting themselves or others at any additional risk of illness or transmission. The science backs this up — and individual businesses are free, if they want, to require customers to keep covering their faces — so there’s probably no good reason why Newsom would have to continue mandating masks statewide for vaccinated people until June 15. Unless he’s also trying to send a message.

Abbott’s message is arguably the more political of the two. “Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices,” he said Tuesday — a classic conservative formulation that fits neatly into the COVID-19 culture wars. Newsom’s message may be more mixed. Given that he’s facing a recall election this fall, politics probably plays a part. “The key to Newsom staying in power is keeping the Democratic base happy, consolidated and making sure the California Democratic Party is the party of Gavin Newsom, and Gavin Newsom only,” University of California, Davis, political scientist Isaac Hale recently told SFGate.com. As long as Democrats view masks — even post-vaccination — as a symbol of taking the pandemic seriously, Newsom has little political incentive to lift the requirement at a pace his base might consider premature. But he seems to be sending another message as well. In the absence of any system to verify vaccination status, he’s simply telling nervous small-business owners, nervous frontline workers and nervous customers to keep calm, carry on and spend the next few weeks acclimating themselves to the idea of once again seeing other people’s full faces indoors and in public (even if they’re vaccinated themselves and have little to fear).

Again, the stakes here are relatively low. If you are vaccinated, you are extremely unlikely to transmit or get sick from COVID-19, and if you’re immunocompromised or otherwise concerned about your own health (or that of others), you can continue to wear a mask wherever you want, regardless of mandates. If you remain unvaccinated, the CDC still recommends wearing a mask indoors and in public, and many states still require it; if you choose to go out in public unmasked and unvaccinated, in defiance of the public-health guidance, you’re posing a far greater risk to yourself and other unmasked, unvaccinated people than to those who have chosen to mask up and/or get inoculated. In other words, individuals now have more power than ever to protect themselves from COVID-19, or not. Mask mandates are less and less powerful as a result. So the fact that the Democratic and Republican governors of America’s two biggest — and in many ways most influential — states now feel free to use their opposing mask policies as opportunities for messaging rather than mitigation should come as no surprise. In strictly scientific terms, it’s fair to say that both Newsom and Abbott overreacted this week. But it’s also fair to say their overreactions are yet another sign that the U.S. pandemic is winding down.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

A good start for the teens!
Mine got her's.
So quick and easy to get, compared to my first shot in January.

U.S. vaccinated 600,000 12-15-year olds last week -health official

The United States administered COVID-19 vaccinations to around 600,000 children ages 12 to 15 last week after regulators cleared Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) and BioNTech’s shots for use in that age group, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said in a media call on Tuesday.

In total, more than 4 million people under 17 have been vaccinated in the United States so far, she added. Top U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said he expects that by the end of 2021 the United States will have enough safety data to vaccinate children of any age.

U.S. regulators last week authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12. Most states began issuing shots to children last Thursday but some, including Georgia, started sooner.

Pfizer’s shot is the first to be cleared in the United States for children 12 to 15. Vaccinating younger ages is considered important for getting children back into schools safely. U.S. President Joe Biden has asked states to make the vaccine available to younger adolescents immediately.
[www.reuters.com]

With all the sky is falling posts, important to remember where we are compared to where we were a year ago with no vaccine on the immediate horizon.
Unbelievable turn around.


With more and more adults getting their jabs, 70% will be easily attainable by July 4th. I'm betting we hit 75%.

60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Tuesday shows 60% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.

The milestone comes roughly six weeks ahead of July 4, the deadline for President Joe Biden’s latest vaccination goal of getting 70% of adults to receive one dose or more.
[www.cnbc.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 03:17 by MisterDDDD.

Quote
MisterDDDD
Not seeing the lie that you so desperately want to hang your hat on son.

And frankly, it isn't relevant. Giving the best info until more is known, data collected, theories proven or disproven, is what was needed.

He's the head of the CDC. He didn't know - 2 months ago - that vaccinated people didn't need to worry, didn't need to wear one - or even two - masks? But now he does. Got it. A year ago he said we didn't need masks and people naively listened and went out and about maskless. They were unprotected and vulnerable because they trusted him. He should be in prison.

Edit to add: This has been an ongoing learning curve, thanks to China's reluctance to share what happened in that lab. Fauci, it seems, gets a pass when he's wrong, or unsure, or changes his mind on a whim. "Data collected." Exactly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 03:24 by bleedingman.

Quote
bleedingman

Quote
MisterDDDD
Not seeing the lie that you so desperately want to hang your hat on son.

And frankly, it isn't relevant. Giving the best info until more is known, data collected, theories proven or disproven, is what was needed.

He's the head of the CDC. He didn't know - 2 months ago - that vaccinated people didn't need to worry, didn't need to wear one - or even two - masks? But now he does. Got it. A year ago he said we didn't need masks and people naively listened and went out and about maskless. They were unprotected and vulnerable because they trusted him. He should be in prison.

Edit to add: This has been an ongoing learning curve, thanks to China's reluctance to share what happened in that lab. Fauci, it seems, gets a pass when he's wrong, or unsure, or changes his mind on a whim. "Data collected." Exactly.

Nice chat man.

Take care.

Quote
bleedingman

He's the head of the CDC. He didn't know - 2 months ago - that vaccinated people didn't need to worry, didn't need to wear one - or even two - masks? But now he does. Got it. A year ago he said we didn't need masks and people naively listened and went out and about maskless. They were unprotected and vulnerable because they trusted him. He should be in prison.

One of the things Fauci's gotten right is that for many across the US, the new mask mandates are a clusterf*ck of confusion, but no doubt he deserves some of the credit for that confusion over the last year.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Only the dumbest of the dumb were legit confused.

I wore one before it was recommended.
Can't imagine being so dense as to not from the time it was first recommended, or to somehow be "confused".

The chicken-littles, negative Nancy's, and Debbie Downers (see above) here and elsewhere want to take the one legit beef with masks and the guidance and make it the narrative.
When the CDC and last administration conspired to make sure medical professionals weren't left stranded after the last administration failed horribly in obtaining any and finally made their FIRST purchase order for any, AFTER even I personally did. Fauci could only work with what he had (an incompetent Buffoon who most experts agree cost the US about 400,000 more lives than necessary).

We're competent as fck now, so that's good.
Anyone still confused



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 04:48 by MisterDDDD.

Basically Everyone Is Mad At The CDC For Being So Confusing About Masks

"...the way the CDC announced the change went against everything that’s known about how to clearly inform the public.
Governors, and even the White House, were given little advance notice to prepare for a change that left store owners, parents of unvaccinated kids,
and people with compromised immune systems relying on the honesty of strangers to tell who is vaccinated or not".

TheMask

“We spent a year trying very hard to get people to wear masks,” one expert said. “This kind of sudden, abrupt change, without any kind of signaling that it’s coming, will leave people feeling blindsided.”

Don’t wear a mask. Wear a mask. In fact, wear two masks. Now take your masks off (once you get your shots). Keep the mask on, though, if you're in stores — well, some of them. The CDC’s latest change in guidelines, announcing that vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most places, has governors complaining, scientists unhappy, and people confused. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, has defended the new guidelines, saying the agency was simply “following the science.” The goal, she said, was to clearly declare that vaccines were effective and, amid declining vaccination rates, convince more people to get their shots. But health communication experts who spoke with BuzzFeed News said that, even armed with new data, the way the CDC announced the change went against everything that’s known about how to clearly inform the public. Governors, and even the White House, were given little advance notice to prepare for a change that left store owners, parents of unvaccinated kids, and people with compromised immune systems relying on the honesty of strangers to tell who is vaccinated or not. In response, some states have ignored the guidelines, setting their own benchmarks to relax masking requirements.

Still recovering from its reputation for political interference under the Trump administration, and continuing to battle rampant misinformation about COVID-19, the CDC abruptly releasing the new guidelines undercut public confidence not only in masks but in public health advice overall, the experts warned. “It’s not simple. There’s not just one way to send public health messages — but there are better ways than this,” said health communication expert Elisia Cohen of the University of Minnesota. For starters, the shift in CDC guidance came without the warm-up that the public needs to understand changes in public health advisories. News of the change was delivered during three minutes of one of the White House’s twice-weekly COVID-19 updates. Walensky ran through results from two new studies showing vaccines were effective against variants and then announced the change: “Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.” One problem: The public, unlike the CDC, is not aware of each incremental update in the science, said Rebekah Nagler, also a health communication scholar at the University of Minnesota. “The public may struggle to reconcile and make sense of seemingly conflicting research findings, or seemingly ever-shifting advice, but an organization like CDC does not anticipate that,” said Nagler. “I think in this case it just doesn't think about what people were thinking about.” Sudden switches in advice simply cross people’s wires without warning, said Matthew Seeger, a health and risk communication scholar at Wayne State University. You have to lay the ground carefully before you change guidance so people can understand where it is coming from. “We spent a year trying very hard to get people to wear masks,” Seeger said. “This kind of sudden, abrupt change, without any kind of signaling that it’s coming, will leave people feeling blindsided.”

Another oversight was that the guidance was aimed at vaccinated people — but unvaccinated people could leave with the same takeaway. Population-specific recommendations might work for the agency’s announcements aimed at medical professionals, Cohen said, “but changes in [pandemic] guidance are going to be viewed by everyone, vaccinated or not, and they are going to be asking, ‘What does it mean for me?’” People who feel like their situation isn’t addressed, like bar owners or parents of unvaccinated children, may end up feeling slighted. The CDC’s change in tone was also jarring because it went from a past focus on protecting others to a new focus on personal freedom, Cohen said. “There were no cues as to what everyone else should do or what our responsibilities are to others.” In general, people process health guidance as a story they are telling themselves about their lives, she added, not as a cost-benefit calculation based on the latest studies or case numbers. “When you have a source that gives you conflicting information or that changes guidance over time, it makes it more difficult for you to be relied upon as a trustworthy source,” Cohen said. “People say, ‘I have trouble keeping the story straight.’” The real concern is that rather than going to their doctor to resolve the confusion, people might just tune out health advice altogether.

Lawmakers raised this concern with Walensky on Wednesday morning during her Senate testimony on the CDC budget. “There’s just too much coming at you for families to be able to think, number one, that their child is safe,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, adding that the guidance could inadvertently cause more people to ignore calls to get the vaccine. Confronted with this confusion, governors have set hard dates, like June 15 for California, or hard numbers, like a 70% vaccinated population in Washington state, as a threshold for relaxing restrictions. New York, which changed its guidance to match the CDC’s, is requiring proof of vaccination for people in some venues. And some state officials — including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — have even suggested that the CDC's change led to an immediate decline in overall vaccinations.

In public comments, Walensky has stuck to saying the agency puts science first to come up with guidance. But the CDC may be right on the science and still wrong on the communication, said Cynthia Baur, a health literacy researcher at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a 20-year veteran of federal health agencies, including the CDC. Normally, new guidance is extensively cross-checked with other agencies (such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is working on mask guidance for businesses) and states to make sure messages work, she said, not just dispensed without consultation at briefings. “Even if the White House is providing more space for CDC's independence, it's hard to believe such an important set of scientific recommendations with major policy implications didn't get review and clearance at other agencies,” Baur said. “Both the White House and CDC have experienced communication professionals, at least some of whom would have anticipated blowback and advised against the way CDC handled the announcement.” The move is especially confusing, Seeger said, because the agency’s own guidance, some of which he helped write, has repeatedly stressed the importance of shaping health messages as policies are made, not coming up with a policy first and the public communications afterward. “One thing I will say is CDC's credibility has been damaged here, which is a very sad thing to say and I say it very reluctantly. But their ability to be persuasive has been reduced,” Seeger said. “This felt abrupt and not fully grounded in the reality that many people experience.”

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 04:54 by Hairball.

Oh should I wear a mask?

Oh my gosh I am so confused! Its all so confusing, how will I ever decide?

Damn that Fauci, send him to prison!!!


What a bunch of idiots.

jb

I happily wear a mask, and being in California will do so until June 15 at least - or whenever the coast is clear as they say.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Basically Everyone Is Mad At The CDC For Being So Confusing About Masks

An opinion piece from Buzzfeed news .. alternative header..
"The Sky Is Falling" by C Little.

If I was hesitant or an anti-vaxxer, probably the last thing that would change my mind is a stranger knocking on my door at home.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and it is a noble cause, so hopefully alot people are being persuaded.
Maybe these outreach people should bring a box of donuts to help bribe and convert more of the "undecided".


From the New York Times:

They’re Reluctant to Get Vaccinated. Will a Knock on the Door Help?

As demand shrinks, the city is turning to door-to-door outreach to overcome vaccine skepticism. “Nobody I know took the shot,” one man said.

On a recent morning, Tomas Ramos, a community organizer, and two colleagues rode the elevator to the 21st floor of a tower in the Webster Houses, a public-housing project in the Bronx. Working their way down, one floor at a time, they knocked on every door. Sometimes a voice from inside an apartment called out, “I’m not getting vaccinated.” Other times the person behind the door simply went silent after Mr. Ramos, 34, explained he was signing people up for vaccinations.But on the 13th floor, Biency Paulino answered the door, flanked by her mother and her 5-year-old son, Christopher, who giggled at the sight of strangers during such a lonely year. “We didn’t leave this apartment for two and a half months,” Ms. Paulino, 30, explained, saying her family had been extra-cautious. Still, she explained, they were unlikely to get vaccinated. It was up to God whether or not she got Covid-19, she said, and whether or not she died.

New York City’s vaccination campaign has been successful by many measures. The city’s second wave is receding fast. Pandemic restrictions are loosening. About 59 percent of the city’s adults have received at least one dose. But Black and Hispanic New Yorkers are getting vaccinated at significantly lower rates than other groups. Citywide, only about 33 percent of Black adults have gotten a vaccine dose. For Hispanic adults, the rate is 42 percent. And demand for the vaccine is dwindling. The racial disparities are partly the result of access, with more robust health care and vaccine distribution in some neighborhoods than others. But resistance to the vaccine, which has been well documented in conservative rural areas, also runs strong in major cities, including New York, the epicenter of the pandemic just a year ago.

New York City public health officials are now trying to reach out to unvaccinated New Yorkers individually. They are urging community groups to start knocking on doors to persuade people to get vaccinated, as Mr. Ramos’s organization, the Bronx Rising Initiative, has been doing for months. Those who agree get appointments for vaccine shots in a temporary clinic nearby. And the city has also hired companies to do door-to-door outreach and talk up the vaccine on street corners, largely in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. One contract went to a Virginia firm that worked on Defense Department contracts in war-torn countries before expanding into contact tracing. Some of the companies have little public health experience, including one owned by a recent New York University graduate who usually works on political campaigns. From May through September, the city anticipates that these firms will send about 700 people a day to knock on doors and do street outreach in the hopes of reducing racial disparities and increasing overall vaccination rates, which are key to reopening efforts. City officials say they anticipate that much of the outreach campaign’s costs, which could be up to $60 million, will be reimbursed by the federal government.

Skepticism about the vaccines’ safety is a significant factor contributing to hesitancy, especially among Black New Yorkers, interviews with more than 40 Black and Hispanic residents across the city show. “We’ve been able to move the needle,” Dr. Torian Easterling, the city Health Department’s chief equity officer, said. “Not as far as we want.” Anthony Lopez, 41, a Black man who coaches basketball and is studying to become a youth counselor, lives in the largely Black neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, where the vaccination rate has hovered around 40 percent. He said he did not plan to get vaccinated anytime soon, nor did his friends. “Nobody I know took the shot,” he said. He added: “I’ll definitely be waiting until more people take it, and they’ll probably make some changes to it, and maybe I’ll be able to make a better decision in a couple of years — not now, though.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio has played down fear and distrust as factors that keep people from getting vaccinated. “It’s not about hesitancy, it’s really about convenience,” he said last month, suggesting that many people had given up on getting an appointment amid crushing demand earlier this year. Still, skepticism abounds. When Moderna announced that it was preparing booster shots to lengthen immunity and increase protection against variants, many New Yorkers took it as good news. But across the Bronx — which has the city’s lowest vaccination rate — the news struck many as proof the current vaccines weren’t so effective. “People don’t want Moderna because they say you’re going to need a booster shot,” said Manny Diaz, an unvaccinated hotel worker, who lives in the North Bronx. He said he was willing to get the Pfizer vaccine — whose plan for a booster shot seems to have received less attention — but didn’t know where to get it. Others said they have made up their minds against the available vaccines. In interviews, some men described baseless conspiracy theories that the vaccine contained poison or could be used to track them. Mr. Ramos, the community organizer, said the most stunning moment for him came in the courtyard of a housing project in the Bronx when he told a group of children to encourage their grandparents to come down and get vaccinated. A girl of about 8 years old shot back: “My mom said, ‘They’re putting something in the vaccine to kill people,’” Mr. Ramos recalled.

To combat conspiracy theories, the city’s health authorities said, they have held over 1,000 community events and have blanketed the city with advertisements and fliers. The city also has a team that searches for vaccine misinformation online to know what needs to be countered. But many residents unswayed by conspiracy theories still worried the vaccine had been rushed and that a full picture of the side effects had yet to emerge. These doubts run deeper in Black neighborhoods for reasons that include a long history of doctors’ treating Black patients differently from white patients as well as past medical experimentation on Black people. “I can’t see how we as Black Americans can rush into taking anything that was developed so quickly,” said Jarrell Hughes, the program director at a community center in the Soundview section of the Bronx. “I can’t go on the fact that my government is saying it’s safe,” he added.

Daniel Barber, who has lived 50 of his 52 years in the Jackson Houses in the Bronx, is the top tenant leader in New York City’s sprawling public housing system, representing more than 400,000 New Yorkers. In December, as vaccinations began, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo appointed Mr. Barber, who is Black, to a task force intended to help Black and Latino communities get vaccinated.Since then, almost 4 million New York City residents have received at least one dose. But not Mr. Barber. He considered getting vaccinated, until he read that a few vaccine recipients developed rare blood disorders or blood clots in the brain. “I’m not willing to put myself or my family up to be guinea pigs,” he said, adding that he had little faith in government assurances about the vaccines’ safety. Mr. Barber said many public housing residents — who are overwhelmingly Black or Hispanic — were skeptical of the vaccine because they had seen government indifference or deceit up close. Arguing with the public housing authority about basic repairs to decrepit apartments has shaped how they view government, he noted. “We don’t have any trust,” he said.

Black residents of the Bronx have had one of the city’s highest Covid-19 death rates and now have the lowest vaccination rate in the borough. About 32 percent of Black adults in the Bronx have gotten a dose — a little above half the rate of white Manhattanites and less than half that of Asians citywide. One of his friends is encouraging Mr. Barber to get vaccinated, raising the topic every time they meet. “I’m on him,” said Dorris Creager, 79, as she sat outside on a recent morning. A retired jewelry designer and tour guide, Ms. Creager lives in the Jackson Houses with her husband, her 99-year-old mother and their three adopted children, ages 9, 12 and 14. Recently her family’s Covid-19 precautions have eased, slightly. Her children no longer wear face shields in addition to masks. They attend school remotely and play outside an hour a day. Her youngest still gets annoyed when other children nearby aren’t wearing masks, she said. She has been vaccinated and urges all her friends to do the same. “It’s either that or you could go on a ventilator,” she said.

Public health experts say encouragement from a person’s social circle can help sway someone to get vaccinated. Sometimes it does not even take that much. Mr. Ramos listened attentively as Ms. Paulino stood in her doorway and described her fears. “I hear in the news about the side effects from the second dose,” she said in Spanish. She said she knew someone who claimed to know someone who was hospitalized after receiving the Johnson & Johnson shot. Mr. Ramos countered that there were bound to be “a few reactions.” He encouraged her to ask her doctor about the vaccine. Then Mr. Ramos talked about other things. He asked Christopher if he liked Baby Shark. He asked Ms. Paulino where in the Dominican Republic she was from. Moments later, Ms. Paulino suggested that her mother — who was standing quietly beside her — should sign up for the vaccine. Then Ms. Paulino announced she would sign up too. Mr. Ramos said some people just need a little reassurance, and to hear it from someone standing in front of them. “Those conversations go a long way,” he said.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Quote
Hairball

From the New York Times:

They’re Reluctant to Get Vaccinated. Will a Knock on the Door Help?

As demand shrinks, the city is turning to door-to-door outreach to overcome vaccine skepticism. “Nobody I know took the shot,” one man said.

If they say no just start coughing on them and tell them you haven't been vaxxed either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 06:54 by daspyknows.

Quote
jbwelda
Oh should I wear a mask?

Oh my gosh I am so confused! Its all so confusing, how will I ever decide?

Damn that Fauci, send him to prison!!!


What a bunch of idiots.

jb

Said perfectly.

They really should have come up with a more elaborate vaccination card...maybe something similar to paper bills with the security strips that can be seen when held to light.
As basic as they currently are - "a 3-x-4-inch piece of common heavy-stock paper with straightforward printing", practically anyone can print one right at home...

Fake, stolen vaccination cards have become commonplace in recent weeks – and identifying them can be difficult

FakeCards

Oregon announced Tuesday that fully vaccinated people now can go maskless in public indoor spaces, but only with proof that they’ve been inoculated against COVID-19. Some other states are considering similar approaches as they too fully reopen their economies. Anticipation of this development is surely one of the reasons fake vaccination cards have been selling briskly on eBay, Etsy and other internet sites for weeks. “We are seeing these vaccination cards being sold on many social-media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even TikTok,” FBI Special Agent Jeanette Harper said in a press statement last month

An official vaccination card, which is a 3-x-4-inch piece of common heavy-stock paper with straightforward printing on it, is relatively easy to fraudulently reproduce. Selling (or buying) fake vaccination cards could result in a prison sentence of up to five years, as well as a fine, the FBI says. Legitimate vaccination cards also are being stolen. Police in Nassau County, New York, this week arrested a pharmacy employee for stealing more than 50 blank vaccination cards, Forbes reports. Zachary Honig, 21, told police he was going to “share them with family members and friends, so that they could go into venues and possibly even use them at schools.” There have been a handful of similar arrests in other states in recent weeks.

This thriving trade in fake and stolen vaccination cards could make Oregon’s new COVID-19 policy difficult for entertainment venues, retailers and eateries. Cybersecurity expert Alyssa Miller pointed out to NBC: “How are you going to make someone at the opposite end, the ones who are supposed to be verifying these, look at one and determine if it’s legitimate or if it’s fake?” Oregon, it appears, mostly will be relying on the honor system. Officials don’t expect businesses to verify the authenticity of cards. Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state epidemiologist, said this week that state officials “hope that Oregonians will not lie or cheat and put others at risk by forging a vaccine record if they aren’t vaccinated.”

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

^ Agree. I actually have a Walgreens vaccination card, not even a CDC one. Now its people attesting they are vaxxed. Needs to be more than that since we know anti-vaxxers lie.

I will continue to mask up and stay safe and follow the guidelines . This has worked for me that in the past year I have not been sick with a common cold a sore throat or anything . Why would I drop my guard against a practice that has gotten results and kept me safe ? I am fully vaccinated with the Pfizer.

Quote
TheGreek
I will continue to mask up and stay safe and follow the guidelines . This has worked for me that in the past year I have not been sick with a common cold a sore throat or anything . Why would I drop my guard against a practice that has gotten results and kept me safe ? I am fully vaccinated with the Pfizer.

If you believe that wearing a mask has prevented you from picking up the common cold,sore throat etc are you now going to wear one forever?

Nate

Do you actually have a physical card, and not just an app saying you're vaccinated?

For concerts etc it will surely be quicker to QR-scan your phone than having to show a card?

Yes, DP, in the States we received an actual physical card with the dates of both vaxxes, at the site of the shots.
Many of us took a photo of the card, fwiw.

~"Love is Strong"~



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-21 15:53 by angee.

Quote
angee
Yes, DP, in the States we received an actual physical card with the dates of both vaxxes, at the site of the shots.
Many of us took a photo of the card, fwiw.

Wouldn't have just been simpler to encode the vax information on the microchip when I got the first shot?

They should be thinking about improving efficiencies here!

LOL

Quote
Nate

Quote
TheGreek
I will continue to mask up and stay safe and follow the guidelines . This has worked for me that in the past year I have not been sick with a common cold a sore throat or anything . Why would I drop my guard against a practice that has gotten results and kept me safe ? I am fully vaccinated with the Pfizer.

If you believe that wearing a mask has prevented you from picking up the common cold,sore throat etc are you now going to wear one forever?

Nate

It's not coming off . Pretty simple .

Quote
Nate

Quote
TheGreek
I will continue to mask up and stay safe and follow the guidelines . This has worked for me that in the past year I have not been sick with a common cold a sore throat or anything . Why would I drop my guard against a practice that has gotten results and kept me safe ? I am fully vaccinated with the Pfizer.

If you believe that wearing a mask has prevented you from picking up the common cold,sore throat etc are you now going to wear one forever?

Nate

Quality of life and you can't put a price tag on it as it hasn't cost me a cent or anything or anyone . All of my friends and immediate family feel the same . We are all lock step on this .

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Do you actually have a physical card, and not just an app saying you're vaccinated?

For concerts etc it will surely be quicker to QR-scan your phone than having to show a card?

I have a physical card