Data updated Friday continued to show a minuscule risk of serious COVID-19 infections among people who’ve been vaccinated — as a former White House coronavirus advisor on Friday called the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s communication strategy a “disaster.”
New figures posted on the CDC’s website showed that just 6,587 — or 0.004 percent — of the 163 million Americans who’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 had suffered serious “breakthrough” infections as of Monday.
Of that total, 6,239 people were hospitalized and 1,263 died, according to the data.
Those numbers amount to 0.0038 percent and less than 0.0008 percent, respectively.
On Tuesday, the CDC reversed course and recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public places in areas where the highly contagious Delta variant of the is surging.
It also advised that students in kindergarten through 12th grade, their teachers and school staffers wear masks regardless of whether they’re vaccinated.
Retired Public Health Service Adm. Brett Giroir told Fox News on Friday that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky botched the rollout of the new mask-wearing guidance.
“One thing that I think was a disaster is to come out with recommendations when you had the data but didn’t disclose the data,” he said.
Giroir, who served on former President Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force, reiterated his belief that most unvaccinated Americans will likely contact the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
“That’s why you need to get the vaccine,” he said.
Giroir said of the CDC and President Biden, “Their messaging needs a lot of help. That’s why I want to help transmit that message.”
He also warned about the low rates of vaccinations in some areas, saying, If vaccines stay where they are right now, from a public-health standpoint masking indoors is gonna have to be added to control this.”
”And if people don’t mask and they don’t get vaccinated, then, unfortunately, governments are going to be put into the situation of considering lockdowns, which I think would be a disaster,” he said.
“Until everybody can get vaccinated, if you’re in a high-risk circumstance, like being in an indoor party … it’s a good idea to wear a mask. It will protect you and it will protect others from being infected by you.”