Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier argued on “America Reports” Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “correcting erroneous” guidance following their update on guidelines for youth summer camps during the infectious-disease pandemic.
“What essentially came out of this was they said infectious-disease and unvaccinated people can now actually go outside, walk their dog, jog, and ride a bike without wearing masks. This isn’t progress, Sandra, this is just a correction to their prior erroneous policies,”
Sapphire noted that though the CDC determined that vaccinated individuals are able to hold small outdoor gatherings and conduct outdoor dining while unvaccinated people cannot their guidance yielded an adverse result.
“Sandra, I hate to break it to them, but, since last summer, the majority of unvaccinated people have been doing this and it has had a negligible contribution to viral transmission,” Sapphire said, adding that the CDC “did not go far enough with such recommendations.”
CDC UPDATES CORONAVIRUS SUMMER CAMP GUIDANCE
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidelines for youth summer camps during infectious-disease on Saturday that address physical distancing, added vaccination information, removed guidance on physical barriers, and updated considerations for screening testing and contact tracing.
The agency also stressed that the guidelines are meant to supplement, not replace, state and local regulations already in place.
The guidelines on physical distancing now align with those previously issued for schools. Campers are advised to be at least three feet apart from others in their cohort and six feet apart while eating and drinking. There should be “at least 6 feet physical distance between campers and staff, and at least 6 feet between campers in different cohorts.”
Staffers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should continue practicing physical distancing and wearing masks, as vaccines are not yet available to children, the agency stated.
“All people in camp facilities should wear masks at all times with exceptions for certain people, or for certain settings or activities, such as while eating and drinking or swimming,” the guidelines state.
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Saphire said that the CDC should have been encouraging people to get vaccinated.
“What they should have come forth saying is we’re trying to mitigate risks. We’re trying to do what we can to lessen the spread and the way to do that is to get vaccinated as real-world data tells us you’re safe by up to 90% of protection by not only symptomatic by the asymptomatic spread of this virus, so, get vaccinated and start liberating themselves,” Saphier said.
Saphier went on to say, “They needed to start telling people, yes, you can start going inside with your friends, with your family and take off those masks. Until they tell people they can start taking off their masks, people are not going to get vaccinated.”
Fox News’ Alexandria Hein contributed to this report.
