One of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisers is slamming the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not telling Americans outright to avoid all Christmas gatherings, including those requiring travel.
“There is not a safe Christmas party in this country right now,” said Michael Osterholm, whom Biden appointed to his coronavirus advisory board, on CNN’s “New Day.” “I think we just really have to tell the American people in hard language what’s happening here. Far too often, we’ve tried to split the middle.”
Last week, the CDC updated its holiday coronavirus recommendations, advising Americans not to travel or meet with other people outside of their household during the holidays. But it also included advice on how to decrease the risk of spreading the virus over the December holiday season, much as it did for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“I have a real problem with the CDC’s recommendations for what to do over the holiday period. It’s nuanced,” Osterholm said. “It’s basically saying, ‘Don’t get together, but if you are going to get together, do these things.’ That’s like telling somebody, ‘Don’t drive drunk, but if you are going to drive drunk, these are the best ways to do it.’”
“We have to be really hard. I don’t care if I’m accused of being the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Osterholm said. “I want you to be around for next Christmas and the Christmas after that.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases — 15.6 million — and deaths, with more than 292,000. Earlier this week, the nation, for the first time, recorded more than 3,100 deaths in one day, breaking April’s previous mark.
“We just have to get through this,” Osterholm said. “Please, save a life, particularly the ones you love, and don’t get together for these holiday parties, these holiday events. That’s the very best thing you can do to love someone today,” Osterholm said.
This week, Biden announced his goal to vaccinate 100 million Americans from the coronavirus in his administration’s first 100 days, as well as enact a national mask mandate where possible and strive to return as many American children to schools as possible.
On Friday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Food and Drug Administration is granting emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.
A U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Thursday, putting the country one step from launching an epic vaccination campaign against the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans.
Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the FDA signs off, as expected, on the expert committee’s recommendation.
In a 17-4 vote with one abstention, the government advisers concluded the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appears safe and effective for emergency use in adults and teenagers 16 and over.
That endorsement came despite questions about allergic reactions in two people who received the vaccine earlier this week when Britain became the first country to begin dispensing the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
Pfizer has said it will have about 25 million doses of the two-shot vaccine for the U.S. by the end of December. But the initial supplies will be reserved primarily for health care workers and nursing home residents, with other vulnerable groups next in line until ramped-up production enables shots to become widely available on demand — something that will probably not happen until the spring.
Next week, the FDA will review a second vaccine, from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, that appears about as protective as Pfizer-BioNTech’s shot. A third candidate, from Johnson & Johnson, which would require only one dose, is working its way through the pipeline. Behind that is a candidate from AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
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