White House COVID-19 Response Team

COVID Vaccination Strategy: What the U.K. and U.S. Could Learn from Israel
Cases are surging in the U.K. despite 68% of its population being fully vaccinated. Experts say that U.K. officials should observe how Israel, with 63% of its population fully vaccinated, managed to reduce transmission after a similar surge.

The Vaccinated Account for 20 Percent of Covid Infections in a Few Hot Spots
All Americans, vaccinated and unvaccinated, are still in this pandemic together.

Living (and Dying) with COVID: How Many Deaths are Acceptable?
Political analyst Philip Bump asks the "unstated, unpleasant question" that the U.S. has struggled with since the inception of the pandemic, more relevant now with the widespread availability of vaccines that are effective at preventing most deaths.

New Data from Israel Brings Good and Bad News on Pfizer Vaccine Effectiveness
A spike in coronavirus cases, driven by the Delta variant in one of the world's most vaccinated countries, has resulted in the return of the indoor masking mandate dropped just ten days earlier.

Vaccination Disparities Between Urban and Rural America
The pandemic has largely been measured by case incidence, down significantly in recent weeks in most states. A new metric, the vaccination rate, may determine where the virus strikes next. The urban-rural divide is a major factor, says the CDC.

Will CDC's Revised Guidance for Fully Vaccinated People Prolong the Pandemic?
The CDC abruptly changed its masking guidance on May 13 to further distinguish behavior for those who are fully vaccinated from those who are not, prompting states, counties and businesses to end indoor mask mandates and social distancing.

CDC to Gov. Whitmer: Time to Shut Down, Not Surge Vaccines
Michigan is on fire—a coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly among younger people, including children, yet high-risk activities, including youth sports and indoor dining, remain open. CDC Director Walensky addressed the conflagration Monday.

Fourth Surge May Be a Second Wave
The CDC announced on April 7 that a coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K is now dominant in the U.S. "In some ways, we're almost in a new pandemic," said one prominent public health expert earlier about the more transmissible variant.

CDC Director Expresses a Feeling of 'Impending Doom'
Dr. Rochelle Walensky sounded the alarm during the White House COVID-19 Response Team's press briefing on Monday, warning Americans that the pandemic trajectory in the United States is the same as in Europe. The latter is experiencing a third wave.

Reopening Schools: CDC Reduces Social Distancing Requirement
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now supports three-foot distancing in elementary school classrooms provided there is universal masking. For middle and high schools, it depends on the level of coronavirus transmission in the community.

Pandemic Watch: We've Been Here Before (but at Lower Case Levels)
The White House COVID-19 Response Team explains why governors are wrong to lift mask mandates and ease restrictions by putting the current level of coronavirus infections in the country in perspective, i.e., comparing it to the two prior surges.

Massachusetts Reopens, But Too Early?
Many coronavirus restrictions were lifted on Monday in Massachusetts by Gov. Charlie Baker due to falling COVID cases and hospitalizations, but many experts feel the move is too hasty and could lead to a resurgence in the virus.

A Fourth Coronavirus Surge is Likely
The plunge in daily new coronavirus cases has ceased and may be climbing again, but the news is brighter when looking at the summer. Most of the public health experts interviewed by The New York Times believe a surge is likely but not inevitable.

Awaiting the Mutant Storm(s)
Coronavirus infection, hospitalizations and most recently, deaths, are declining, but public health experts warn that more transmissible variant strains of the coronavirus threaten to overwhelm hospitals in the next few months.
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