Cities and states say they want to see data that led CDC to make mask U-turn before changing rules

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coming under increasing pressure to release the data that prompted it to reverse its mask guidelines on Tuesday, as cities and states say they need to see the evidence before revising their own policies. 

Federal officials say unpublished data showed vaccinated people infected with COVID-19 may be able to transmit the virus, leading them to recommend that everyone should wear a mask indoors in areas of high transmission. 

Republicans have poured doubt on the new findings and even Democratic-led cities say they won’t make changes without understanding the facts. 

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said the change was confusing.

‘I haven’t seen the data – they’re not really forthcoming on a lot of data that they’re using to make this change in the guidance,’ she said at a press conference. 

‘And I really haven’t seen any data that would support that states that don’t issue a mask mandate versus states that do issue a mask mandate – that the statistics are that much different.’

‘This is not a decision CDC has made lightly…this is something that weighs heavily on me and all of America,’ said Rachelle Walensky, CDC director as she reversed mask guidance

After weeks of progress, Biden officials are battling a surge in cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 and vaccine reluctance in some states

After weeks of progress, Biden officials are battling a surge in cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 and vaccine reluctance in some states

Scientists have also asked for the data to be released.

‘They’re making a claim that people with delta who are vaccinated and unvaccinated have similar levels of viral load, but nobody knows what that means,’ Dr Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. 

When CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the reversed policy on Tuesday she said ‘new scientific data’ justified the move. She said it came from research on ‘breakthrough’ infections, comparing viral loads between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

But the CDC has yet to offer more specific information about the studies.

That information vacuum has been filled by the likes of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claiming a doctor told him the study was conducted in India using a vaccine that was not approved in the U.S. 

At the same time, Democratic-run cities have said they cannot make changes without being in full possession of the facts. 

At a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Health and Hospitals President Mitchell Katz said: ‘While the CDC issued their guidance yesterday at about 3 p.m., they have not yet released their scientific reports on the data that underlies their recommendation.’

He added that his focus remained on getting people vaccinated. 

‘I think we owe it to New Yorkers to very carefully, as you say, review that information and understand its implications,’ he said. 

A day earlier, the country’s top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci told MSNBC that the latest information suggested that even vaccinated people can spread Delta and explains 

Previous research indicated that people infected with Delta have 1,000 times more copies of the coronavirus in their respiratory tracts compared to those infected with older strains of the virus. 

Vaccinated people can spread Delta just like unvaccinated people, Dr Fauci says

Vaccinated people can spread Delta just like unvaccinated people, Dr Fauci says

Since the start of the pandemic, one common metric used by scientists is ‘viral load’ – a measurement of how many copies of the coronavirus are in a patient’s body.

When patients have a higher viral load – more copies of the virus – they’re more likely to give the virus to someone else.

As the coronavirus has mutated into new variants, its viral load has increased. Delta is now the most contagious variant for this reason.

In fact, according to Fauci, Delta is so contagious that even vaccinated people can spread it.

‘We have a Delta variant that has changed the entire landscape,’ he said.

Nationwide, the variant is causing over 80 percent of cases – and in some regions, that number is upwards of 90 percent.

‘When you look at the level of virus in the nasopharynx of a vaccinated person who gets a breakthrough infection with Delta, it is exactly the same as the level of virus in an unvaccinated person who’s infected,’ Fauci said.

‘That triggered the change in the CDC guideline,’- referring to the agency’s recent backtrack on masking recommendations for vaccinated Americans.

In May, the CDC said anyone who had completed a full vaccination regimen – two shots of Pfizer or Moderna, or one shot of Johnson & Johnson – could go without masks everywhere.

But this week, the agency said that several groups of fully vaccinated Americans should go back to masking in public, indoor spaces.

This includes people living in areas with rapidly-rising Covid cases, teachers in K-12 schools, and parents with children too young to be vaccinated.

When announcing the change, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky cited ‘new scientific data’ in line with Dr Fauci’s statement – vaccinated people can spread Delta.

The statement also aligns with a recent study from China suggesting that people infected with Delta have a viral load 1,000 times higher than those infected with older strains of the coronavirus.

But the CDC’s new data are not yet public, leading to concerns about the agency’s transparency.

People infected with the Delta variant had 1,000 times as many copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts as people infected with the original strain (above), a recent study found

People infected with the Delta variant had 1,000 times as many copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts as people infected with the original strain (above), a recent study found

A citation in the updated masking guidance simply reads, ‘CDC COVID-19 Response Team, unpublished data, 2021.’

These data come from investigations of recent Delta-caused outbreaks, in which researchers compared infections among vaccinated and unvaccinated people, according to the Washington Post.

The findings will be ‘published imminently’ per reporting from The Post. 

But that’s not enough for some scientists – even those who have endorsed the CDC’s new guidance.

‘They’re making a claim that people with delta who are vaccinated and unvaccinated have similar levels of viral load, but nobody knows what that means,’ Dr Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told The Post.

‘It’s meaningless unless we see the data.’

Other experts aren’t convinced that a higher viral load actually leads to Delta’s transmission among vaccinated people.

‘I feel like nasal viral load is one part of a lot of other parts’ that determine how infectious a person is, biostatistician Natalie Dean told The Post.

Dean added that she thinks other important factors may be how much virus is present in a patient’s throat or lungs.

Experts like Dean want to see more data comparing case numbers between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans.

In recent months, the vast majority of severe Covid cases – those leading to hospitalization and death – have occurred among the unvaccinated.

But the CDC is not tracking less-severe breakthrough infections. In May, the agency switched its strategy to only investigate and report those infections that cause hospitalization or death

Scientists have critiqued this move for leaving the U.S. without crucial data to monitor the cases caused by Delta and other variants.

Still, all Covid experts can agree on one thing: Delta is cause for major concern, and additional precautions are needed to curb its spread.

‘Delta is Alpha on steroids,’ James M. Musser, chair of the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, told WaPo.



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