New CDC COVID-19 Guidance Is Agency ‘Admitting It Was Wrong’: Epidemiologist

A Stanford University medical professor claims changes in government guidance about handling COVID-19 is basically an admission they were wrong.

New guidance, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention August 11, rescinds and changes some key recommendations. Among the changes, according to a report in The Epoch Times, is explicitly stating  previously infected people have protection against severe illness. They also reportedly removed and removing six-foot social distancing advice.

“The CDC is admitting it was wrong here, although they won’t put it in those words,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, told The Epoch Times.

“What they’ll say is that, well, ‘the population is more immunized now, has more natural immunity now, and now is the time—the science has changed.’”

A large percentage of the U.S. has natural immunity or protection from prior infection, Bhattacharya noted. The professor added that more than 80 percent of elderly people gained protection from severe disease from receiving COVID-19 vaccines, previous infection — or both — since Operation Warp Speed brought vaccines to market.

“This is two years too late, but it’s a good step,” Bhattacharya stated.

The changes were portrayed by the CDC as streamlining previous guidance since so many Americans have been vaccinated and more coronavirus treatments are available, according to the report.

“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools—like vaccination, boosters, and treatments—to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19,” explained Greta Massetti, the CDC author listed first on the new guidance. “We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation.”

“This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”

Former President Donald Trump’s surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, concurred with Massetti’s reasoning.

“The fact that @CDCgov is changing guidance shouldn’t be taken as proof that they were necessarily ‘wrong,’ on a particular issue,” remarked Adams in a Twitter post. “The virus has changed, our tools and immunity have changed, and our knowledge has changed. So too must our guidance. That’s how science works.”