National Nurses United

NATIONAL O n may 14, National Nurses United issued a statement con- demning the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance stating that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks except in health care and public transportation set- tings, distance from others outside their household, or get tested and self-isolate when they've been exposed to Covid-19 if they show no symptoms. Less than a week later, NNU held a press conference to dis- cuss the faulty science underlying the CDC's dangerous new guidance. In a new scientific brief, NNU analyzed how all the most recent, respected research on Covid-19 supports a robust public health program that uses multiple measures of infection control—including vaccination as one component as well as masking, distanc- ing, testing, contact tracing, isolation, and ensuring workplace protections for essential workers—and how, on the contrary, the studies cited by the CDC for its new guid- ance present data that is incomplete, not yet peer reviewed, potentially biased, or show poor statistical certainty. The union is calling on the CDC to revise this guidance and to adhere to science and the precautionary principle in its recom- mendations. Nurses say that given the threat to their patients across the country, they are especially disappointed that the CDC would ease up its Covid guidance on the heels of International Nurses Day. "This newest CDC guidance is not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of patients, nurses, and other frontline workers across the coun- try," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century." "The CDC issued this new guidance even though the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency tempo- rary standard mandated by President Biden's Jan. 21 executive order has been delayed for two months. This lack of protec- tion compounds the dangers that nurses and other essential workers continue to face on the job," Castillo continued. NNU cited concerns with the new guid- ance, including: a continued high number of Covid cases in the United States, with more than 35,000 new detected infections reported each day, and more than 600 people dying from Covid each day; the circulation of Covid variants that are more transmissible, deadlier, and may already be or may become vaccine resistant; unanswered questions about vaccines, such as how well vaccines prevent asymptomatic and mild Covid infec- tions, how well vaccines prevent transmission of the virus, and how long protection from vaccines will last; the CDC's announcement that it would no longer track infections among fully vaccinated people unless they result in hospitalization or death; the CDC recognizing scientific evidence on aerosol transmission but refused to update its Covid- 19 guidance based on science and prioritize measures that prevent and reduce aerosol transmission. The statement also noted that preventing and reducing transmission of Covid requires multiple layers of protective measures. Nurses say this includes masks, distancing, and avoid- ing crowds and large gatherings—in addition to vaccines. Importantly, it also includes pro- tecting nurses and other frontline workers from workplace exposure to the virus. Vaccines are only one important component of a robust, public health infection control program. The recent guidelines are unjust and will disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and people of color. "There has been so much inequity in the vaccine rollout," said NNU President Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN. "The impact of the CDC's guidance update will be felt disproportionately by workers of color and their families and communities." NNU said the new CDC guidance under- lines the importance of OSHA issuing a long overdue OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS) on infectious diseases with- out delay. —Kari Jones A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 1 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 9 NNU condemns CDC rollback on Covid infection control guidance for the vaccinated

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