I cannot help feeling this way. The CDC under Biden has just screwn

[appalachiablue]

157. Partial, no space for the full 'timeline' & extras:

‘The right decision wrongly handled’: Inside the Biden administration’s abrupt reversal on masks,' Washington Post, May 15, 2021. - EXCERPTS:

During her opening statement before a Senate health committee Tuesday, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was adamant that the Biden administration’s masking and social distancing policies remained sound.. Walensky ticked off a series of statistics to support the CDC’s current guidance. She noted that only a third of the country was fully vaccinated, stressed the high rates of cases in many counties and ended with a vague comment that the agency works to review and update their formal advice. Left unsaid by Walensky was that she had already made a decision the night before — approving a recommendation Monday from CDC officials to significantly overhaul its guidance to no longer require fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks or physically distance in most cases.

.. The revised guidance — which was not publicly announced until Thursday — marked a dramatic turning point in the nation’s 14-month battle with the coronavirus pandemic and sent the clearest signal yet the country could begin returning to normal. It was a significant acceleration of the schedule President Biden had set earlier in the month, saying that he expected the country to move toward normalcy on July 4, when he hopes that 70 % of the country’s adult population will have at least one shot of the vaccine. But the huge policy turnaround caught senior White House and administration officials, medical experts, elected officials and business leaders completely off guard, and prompted some physicians to criticize the move as premature.

Some Democratic governors were angered by the White House’s rollout, arguing the move effectively passed the buck to states and businesses to implement the new rules without any assistance.. Despite White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients, the administration’s covid coordinator, regularly quizzing health officials on when vaccinated Americans could safely take off their masks, the CDC did not inform the White House about the updated guidance until late Wednesday — leaving some senior officials frustrated at how abruptly they were informed. Zients was told of the impending policy by Walensky around 6 p.m. that night, according to a CDC official, while aides said others in the West Wing weren’t notified until around 9 p.m.

Biden himself was not briefed until Thursday morning, officials said.

And when White House officials asked what they felt were basic questions — such as what the new guidance meant for businesses and children under 12 not yet eligible for vaccines — they felt CDC officials did not have sufficient answers. They also worried that the mixed messages over the course of the week would leave many Americans confused and key questions unanswered.. The CDC officially put out the news at 2 p.m. Thursday during a regular covid briefing. Around 2:40 p.m., White House staff received an email informing them that fully vaccinated employees didn’t need to keep wearing masks. As administration officials digested the updated guidance on Thursday, they scrambled to prepare for Biden to address the nation and announce the changes. The Rose Garden was prepared as the venue for the address by midmorning. Reporters learned that Biden would be speaking about 2 hours before he was set to give his address.

The president, in a jubilant mood, declared the significant milestone in an afternoon speech at the Rose Garden, where he appeared without a mask with Vice President Harris...

More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-right-decision-wrongly-handled-inside-the-biden-administrations-abrupt-reversal-on-masks/ar-BB1gLNLP