The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added guidance to its website on Friday which acknowledged that coronavirus can be transmitted through the air. Today, just days later, the CDC is now saying it was posted in error and has removed the guidance.
The reversal is the latest in a long string of similar reversals, missteps, and confusing announcements from the CDC and other independent public health agencies like the FDA. The widespread and confusing walkbacks come as concerns about political interference from the Trump Administration and questions about the autonomy of the vaccine approval process are being raised.
In response, Protect Our Care’s Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas released the following statement:
“Americans should be able to trust their independent public health agencies in times of crisis, but every single day it gets harder to do so.
“Donald Trump has blatantly sought to interfere with these independent agencies to bolster his own political agenda and brags about rushing through a vaccine despite experts saying his Election Day timeline is next to impossible. These continued and inexplicable reversals coming from the CDC and the FDA do not instill confidence that they are able to withstand the political pressure that the Trump Administration is willing to exert on them.
“Trump will stop at nothing to do what he thinks is most politically beneficial, no matter how dangerous it is for the American people. It’s up to our independent public health agencies to stand against his reckless endangerment and assure people they are putting the health and safety of Americans first. That assurance has never been more important than now, as we go through a fast-tracked vaccine process, which Trump is determined to manipulate to benefit his reelection chances.
“Explaining away a major guidance reversal by claiming it was posted in error doesn’t bolster trust in the CDC’s independence and the American people deserve to know whether the experts are making the decisions or not.”