Victor blackwell and we do begin this hour with breaking news. Any moment, the cdc is expected to ease guidance on indoor mask wearing and social distancing for fully vaccinated people. Were going to take that announcement from the cdc director, dr. Rochelle walensky, live as soon as it begins, but lets start with phil mattingly, senior White House Correspondent there at the white house. Phil, what do we know about this announcement and the timing of it . Reporter yeah, so, what we know right now is obviously earlier in the week, we reported that the cdc didnt have any imminent guidance coming and that was in large part because President Biden in speaking to governors at a public event made clear there was the potential for new guidance as it pertained to those individuals that had been vaccinated. The cdc now appears to be on the verge of reversing itself, at least to some degree. The expectation is an announcement that those that have been vaccinated, fully vaccinated, if you are getting the two shots through both shots and the twoweek period afterwards to achieve full immunization, should, in many cases, not have to wear a mask both outdoors and indoors. Well wait for the specifics as to how they actually lay this out, what caveats there actually are but i think this underscores what would be a clear, almost, pressure mounting over the course of the last several days, even before then, not just from lawmakers on capitol hill, though that was certainly the case when the president S Public Health officials were testifying earlier this week, but also from Public Health officials, making very clear that there should be new guidance as it pertains to the vaccinated, something that is not only justified by the science but is also justified by an effort to incentivize people to get vaccinated, make clear there are carrots at the end of the vaccination process, not just sticks and one of those primary carrots being that you would no longer have to wear a mask, not just outside when youre not in a large group of people, but also inside as well. The devil is in the details a little bit here. It will be interesting to see how specifically cdc officials lay out what the guidance will entail but it is clear they have been feeling the pressure not just again from capitol hill but also from other Public Health officials that more needs to be done to incentivize people to get vaccinated, more needs to be done to underscore the fact that based on all of the science, all of the data that Public Health officials are seeing, there is a need to relax some of those guidelines that have been in place for so long, guys, and i would note one other final thing. The president has also announced previously unscheduled remarks. They will be at 3 45 p. M. We dont know specifically if they pertain to this but you can draw some conclusions by the fact the president will be speaking about the covid19 response and vaccinations, according to the white house. So not exactly entirely clear what hes going to say, but generally, you can connect the dots a little bit here. Good to know since thats on our watch, so thank you for tipping us off to that. But this would be a game changer, phil. I mean, we dont know exactly what the cdc and dr. Rochelle walensky is going to say, but if it were changing the guidelines on maskwearing indoors and outdoors, it would be a game changer. Also what you just said. Its interesting to hear that the cdc does respond to pressure, more lack of a better word, from governors and from various Health Experts that it was time to do that. Also, let me phil, hold that thought for a second. Lets bring in Elizabeth Cohen. She, of course, has been following all the developments on covid for us. So, elizabeth, like i was saying to phil, this would be a game changer. What do we know . Oh, absolutely. This is a game changer. What we know is that dr. Rochelle walensky, the head of the cdc, told chris cuomo last night that, you know, we think were going to be changing our mask guidance very soon. We dont know exactly what very soon means but a lot of pressure on the cdc, saying to them, look, we know that you cant completely have every last little bit of science that you need to change masking guidance, but there is science out there that shows how very effective these vaccines are at protecting people and, and this is important, alisyn, and when people do get infected after getting vaccinated, which happens rarely, but it does happen, those people, according to studies, tend to have lower viral loeads. It suggests theyre not as infectious as other people. So, there is a lot of reason here to expect that when they do change this guidance, that it will be more lenient, giving vaccinated people more leeway to take off their masks. So, elizabeth, its been just about two weeks since that chart with the masked faces on one side and the unmasked faces on the other was released from the cdc, confused some people. Is there new science to support what were going to hear, potentially, today, from what we knew two weeks ago . Or is this primarily based on the criticism that we heard from even dr. Fauci, saying it was a bit too strict . You know, victor, i think more the latter. The science that says these vaccines work really well, not just to protect the individual but to sort of cut down on their chance of being infectious, if they do get covid, thats been around now for weeks, certainly before that mask guidance came out. I mean, maybe a little bit more has come out but the science has been out there for a while. The cdc has come under a lot of criticism and even ridicule for putting out that graphic that was so very difficult and confusing. You looked at it, you werent quite sure what you were supposed to get out of it and it didnt, sort of in stark relief, say, hey, vaccinated people, you can do a whole lot more now without your masks than you could before. So i think this is much more about the pressure on the cdc to sort of move it and kind of go with what dr. Fauci and others have been thinking and not be so worried that they dont have every single last bit of data that one would like to have, because frankly, that data takes months, often, to get. Okay, guys, stay with us. Lets bring in our cnn medical analysts, dr. Jorge rodriguez and dr. Lena wen. Dr. Wen, you have been pushing for something along what we think might be coming out of the cdc. What are your thoughts . I cannot wait for the cdc announcement. Overcaution has a price, and that price is that people have stopped paying attention to the cdc guidance, that the cdc is becoming increasingly irrelevant if what theyre saying just seems separate from common sense. And common sense says that if you have a vaccine thats really effective, that protects you from getting infected, from spreading it to others, then you should be able to do a whole lot more than the cdc currently says that you can do. So, i really hope the cdc will come out and say, first of all, outdoors, safe for everyone. Second, that fully vaccinated people can be around one another, including in large groups, in office settings, whatever settings, without restriction, and third, i hope the cdc also comes out with some kind of guidance on when additional restrictions like indoor mask mandates could be lifted. Ideally, thats tied to some level of vaccination in that community. Dr. Rodriguez, what are you looking to hear from dr. Walensky when she speaks in just a moment . Well, im looking for some clarity and for simplicity, to be quite honest, because i think theres so many messages coming out at different times that, like dr. Wen so eloquently stated, people stopped listening because, you know, they really dont know what to believe. This is what usually happens behind the scenes in science. Information is gathered and then when there is a definite conclusion, you put forth a statement or it becomes dogma. The American Public is seeing how the scientific sausage is being made and thats confusing, so i do believe that it is time to sort of lessen some of these guidances, but again, people need to feel comfortable with what theyre doing, and i hope that there will be simple guidance coming out in the next few minutes. Dr. Wen, you know, if this is what we think it is, and if there is a loosening of the guidance, for certainly outdoor mask wearing, this is going to require the honor system. You know, this is going to require people who are doubly vaccinated to take off their masks and people who are not yet vaccinated to keep on their masks. And look, lets just be honest. Sometimes not everybody does have the best interests of their neighbor at heart, so how are we going to navigate that . Yeah, i am very concerned about that. And this is why i hope the cdc actually comes out and says, fully vaccinated people who are around others who have proof of vaccination, for example, im thinking the office setting, a lot of employees are being asked to return to work, but if people are allowed to not wear masks or distance, then i think people would also feel more comfortable if everybody there has some kind of proof theyve all been vaccinated. I think otherwise, we are potentially putting people at risk, including people who are immunocompromised or individuals who cannot yet be vaccinated or have family members who cannot yet be vaccinated like little kids. So i hope the cdc will give some kind of inbetween step in saying, you know, you can do whatever you want if youre fully vaccinated. However, if youre going to be in settings, in public settings with other people, there should still be some way of ensuring safety for everyone. You know, we have seen the growing spate of states that have governors who have signed executive orders, banning vaccine passports, so id like to know, once we hear from the cdc, how that potentially plays into this role of proving who is vaccinated and should be without a mask in some of these settings but we know that the president , phil, and the Vice President , theyve been vaccinated. We know that their spouses have as well. And theyve been criticized, especially the president , for wearing a mask outdoors, sometimes in settings where even the cdc says that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear them. Reporter yeah, look, its been a question, i think, a lot of us have had over the course of the last couple of weeks. You know, yesterday, the president meeting with lawmakers in the oval office, and everybody was wearing n95 masks. Same, i believe, today, based on i wasnt in the oval office but based on what i saw from the feed from our colleagues in the pool who were in there. They did it again. Theres white house regulations right now inside the building that you have to wear a mask. It will be interesting to see if those transition but i think one of the questions that we have heard from outside experts is, you know, the president is taking great pride in modeling the hold that thought, if you would. Phil, hold the thought. The cdc briefing is beginning. Lets listen. Let me close and hand it off to dr. Walensky by reiterating some of the words the president said yesterday. On july 4th, lets celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence of the virus. 70 of adults with at least one shot by july 4th is a critical goal. When youre winning, you press harder. We can do this. But if you havent gotten vaccinated yet, now is the time. And with that, over to dr. Walensky for an important update and what our progress means for americans. Thank you, andy. Good afternoon. Im pleased to be back with you today. Lets begin with an overview of the data. Yesterday, cdc reported more than 34,200 new cases of covid19. Our sevenday average is about 36,800 cases per day. This represents yet another decrease of about 23 from our prior sevenday average. And every day with daily cases continuing to fall, we remain encouraged by these positive trends. The sevenday average of hospital admissions is 4,100. Again, another terrific sign with another backtoback decrease of 12 from the previous sevenday period. In sevenday average daily deaths have also declined to 587 per day. Today, i have several exciting announcements to share with you. First, since becoming cdc director, i have seen firsthand the current frail state of the Public Health infrastructure in this country. Im committed to upgrading the Public Health system so the nation is ready for whatever comes next. With this in mind, today, we are announcing the upcoming release of 7. 4 billion in funding from the American Rescue plan to hire, train, and support Public Health workers across the country, reflective of the diversity within the communities they serve. Over half of the money being released, 4. 4 billion, will support states and localities, creating tens of thousands of new jobs in communities across america, expanding our overstretched Public Health departments with new hires to support their covid19 efforts, and 3 billion will be focused on preparing these same jurisdictions for future pandemics and to build a Public Health workforce for the future. Though many threats have increased in complexity and scale in recent years, our nationS Public Health workforce has gotten smaller. This support will immediately add more staff in Health Departments across the country and will add School Nurses to k12 schools to support safe reopenings and operations and support vaccinations as vaccines are authorized for younger people. It will expand the number of cdc Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, our elite disease detectives, to respond to local outbreaks and help curb the pandemic. It will expand Public Health career paths, recruit and train a Diverse Group of future Public Health leaders, and launch a Public Health americorps and i will create new programs intended to increase staffing at our nations laboratories and build preparedness for our future. We are really excited about what this support will mean for our nationS Public Health capability now and into the future. Second, last night, i endorsed the recommendations of Cdcs Advisory Committee on immunization practices, making the Pfizer Vaccine available to anyone who was 12 years and older. I want to thank the acip for reviewing the science and providing their recommendations on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in adolescents. This is an important step forward in our efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible and to stop the pandemic. And finally, i want to provide you an update regarding cdcs guidance for fully vaccinated people. Over the course of the pandemic, we are continuously gathering data and evidence to inform our guidance and decision making. We now have numerous reports in the literature that demonstrate the safety and real world effectiveness of the authorized vaccine. On this slide, there are three recently published studies, one from israel published in the journal of the American Medical Association or jama on the top and two from the United States, both published in cdcs morbidity and mortality weekly report. They all show that covid19 vaccines work. In israel, there was a demonstrated 97 vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic and 86 effectiveness against asymptomatic infection in over 5,000 healthcare workers. In the United States, vaccines were 90 effective against any infection in nearly 4,000 healthcare workers and 94 effective against hospitalizations from covid19 in an evaluation across 24 hospitals in 14 states. Additionally, we are accumulating data that our authorized vaccines are effective against the variants that are circulating in this country. On this slide, you can see a study published just last week that demonstrates how effective the Pfizer Vaccine is against the common circulating variants in the United States. B. 1. 1. 7, as well as other variants like b. 1. 351. Additional studies confirm the moderna and Johnson Johnson vaccines are also effective against circulating variants. Finally, we know that in the rare event that people get infected after a vaccine, the resulting infection is more likely to have a lower viral load, be shorter in duration, and likely less risky of transmission to others. Considering all of these factors, the data on vaccine effectiveness, the science on their ability to protect against circulating variants, and our growing understanding of the low risk of transmission to others, combined with universal access to vaccines for those 12 and older, today, cdc is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people. Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the Scientific Data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads, that moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated. Now, if you are immune compromised, you will most definitely want to talk to your doctor before giving up your masks. Also, locations such as Healthcare Facilities will continue to follow their specific Infection Control recommendations. And lastly, this past year has shown us that this virus can be unpredictable. So, if things get worse, there is always a chance we may need to make change to these recommendations. But we know that the more people are vaccinated, the less cases we will have and the less chance of a new spike or additional variants emerging. If you develop symptoms, you should put your mask back on and get tested right away. The science is also very c