The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday held its first COVID-19 press briefing in over a year. The briefing covered a wide range of pandemic-related topics, from the rise in pediatric COVID-19 cases to the trajectory of the omicron wave and the agency’s own missteps in communicating with the public.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky fielded most of the questions herself during the roughly 35-minute phone conference, as reporter after reporter expressed the need for more briefings and thanked her for being available today. Walensky noted that she had been in over 80 COVID-19 briefings held by the White House. However, the CDC had not given its own briefing on its pandemic-related work since January 6, 2021.
In the intervening year, the CDC has experienced periodic missteps and has taken heavy criticism for muddled messaging around ever-evolving pandemic guidance. The latest such episode unfolded last week after the agency said that certain individuals infected with COVID-19 could leave isolation periods early without having to test negative. The agency has stood by the decision, despite science-based criticisms and concerns that the CDC’s decision was influenced by political interests, namely avoiding the problem of test shortages.
In today’s briefing, Walensky didn’t directly reference the latest dust-up but said the abrupt resumption of press briefings was spurred by a recognition that reporters want to hear from the CDC independently. When pressed, she assured reporters, saying, “I anticipate that this will be the first of many briefings.”
Walensky opened the briefing with a focus on recent updates aimed at keeping children safe during the current phase of the pandemic—the worst wave so far amid the stunning rise of the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant. But the roughly 30-minute question-and-answer portion of the briefing spanned a wide range of topics, providing useful insight into the agency’s thinking on the omicron phase. Here’s the rundown of what was covered.
Kids and COVID in schools
The CDC on Thursday updated quarantine and isolation protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in K-12 schools, Walensky highlighted. The updates align the CDC’s school-specific guidance with the agency’s controversial update to quarantine and isolation protocols for the public, shortening both to only five days.
That is, students, teachers, and staff who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate from others for at least five days. If at five days, they remain asymptomatic or if symptoms are resolving (if they’re fever-free for at least 24 hours), they can end isolation, though they need to wear a mask in indoor settings for an additional five days. As with the general guidance for the public, the K-12 guidance does not require that people receive a negative test to end isolation early.
Likewise, students, teachers, and staff who are not up to date on their vaccinations need to quarantine for at least five days if they have had close contact with someone known to be infected. People are considered “up to date” on vaccination if they have received all the vaccinations for which they are eligible, including boosters. People who are up to date on their vaccinations do not need to quarantine after close contact with a case but should mask for 10 days.
In announcing the update, Walensky acknowledged that many schools have had to move back to remote learning amid the towering omicron wave. This update, along with other CDC guidance on test-to-stay systems, mask-wearing, and increased ventilation, “provide the tools necessary to get these schools reopened for in-person learning and to keep them open for the rest of the school year,” she said.
Kids in hospitals
Still, Walensky acknowledged the heavy toll that the current surge is having on children, particularly unvaccinated children. “Pediatric hospitalizations are at the highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic,” she said. “Sadly, we are seeing the rates of hospitalization increasing for children [ages] 0 to 4—children who are not yet currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.”
It’s still unclear how severe omicron is in children. It’s also unclear if the increasing hospitalizations simply reflect the colossal case numbers being seen now in the omicron wave or if the record-high hospitalization numbers reflect the relatively low vaccination rates in children.
Even for children who are eligible to get their shots, vaccination rates are low. For instance, only 16 percent of children ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. Walensky urged parents of eligible children to get them vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible, noting that unvaccinated 11-to-12-year-olds were 11 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than vaccinated children that age.
Vaccine updates
This week, the CDC made three new vaccination recommendations, which may have been drowned out in the overflowing news cycle, Walensky noted.
- First, the CDC signed off on the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of giving Pfizer-BioNTech booster doses at five months, rather than six, after the initial dose.
- The CDC’s advisory group on Wednesday voted in favor of expanding eligibility of booster doses to children ages 12 to 15, and the CDC endorsed the decision. Now, everyone ages 12 and above should receive a booster dose five months after their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
- Lastly, the CDC recommended that immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11 should receive a third dose 28 days after their second shot. This age group is not yet eligible for boosters.
