Tag: Rochelle Walensky

Walensky: PCR Tests Can Remain Positive for up to 12 Weeks

One reason for not recommending officials require COVID-19 testing at the end of the revised shortened isolation period is because polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can stay positive for up to three months after one contracts the illness, according to the top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official. The CDC cut its recommendations this…


CDC Director: People Unable or Unwilling to Get Pfizer or Moderna Vaccine Should Get Johnson & Johnson’s

Americans who are not willing or able to get the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines should get Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 shot, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel recently recommended the agency make clear that the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, both of which…


CDC Director: People Unable or Unwilling to Get Pfizer or Moderna Vaccines Should Get Johnson & Johnson’s

Americans who are not willing or able to get the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines should get Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 shot, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel recently recommended the agency make clear that the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, both of which…


In Shift, Walensky Says CDC Not Examining Changing Definition of ‘Fully Vaccinated’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not examining changing the definition of “fully vaccinated,” its director said Wednesday. “The definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ is one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and two doses of the either Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the agency, or…


US Seeing a Decline in COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths

The United States is seeing a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and deaths related to the disease. The seven-day average of daily cases was about 92,600 a day as of the end of last week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. That was a decrease of 12 percent from the…


CDC’s Walensky Defends Overruling Vaccine Advisory Panel on Boosters

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday defended unilaterally overruling a panel of experts on which populations should be allowed to receive COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a Biden appointee who currently directs the CDC, accepted three recommendations on boosters from the agency’s advisory panel. But she…


CDC Not Changing Definition of ‘Fully Vaccinated’ for Now: Walensky

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that the definition of “fully vaccinated” won’t change when COVID-19 booster shots are rolled out—at least in the near future. Currently, the CDC and other federal health agencies have defined one as fully vaccinated if they receive two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,…


CDC Allows COVID-19 Vaccine Booster for Group That Advisory Panel Did Not

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overrode its vaccine advisory panel early Friday and said people as young as 18 who have certain jobs or living situations may get a COVID-19 vaccine booster. The move means millions of more Americans may get a booster shot, even though experts during a meeting said there…


CDC Recommends COVID-19 Booster Vaccine for Group That Advisory Panel Did Not

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overrode its vaccine advisory panel early Friday and said people as young as 18 who have certain jobs or living situations may get a COVID-19 vaccine booster. The recommendation means millions of more Americans may get a booster shot, even though experts during a meeting said there…


CDC Director: Agencies Urgently Working on COVID-19 Vaccine for Younger Children

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said that the federal health agency is working quickly on a COVID-19 vaccine for younger children between the ages of 5 and 11. “We’re waiting for the companies to submit the data to the FDA, we’re anticipating that will happen in the fall,” she told…