A group of 10 Republican senators is backing a bill that would require an audit of the decision-making and public health messaging by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Senate bill (pdf), titled ‘Restore Public Health Institution Trust Act of 2021, would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the CDC’s public health messaging and decision making and prepare a report on the matter.
The bill requires the report to include a review of the data the CDC used to make its recommendations and whether the agency’s “inconsistent messaging” had an impact on the public’s trust and willingness to take the COVID-10 vaccine.
“These guidelines, like most of the Biden Administration’s actions these days, make little sense and seem without scientific direction,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a statement, referring to the CDC recent reversal of masking guidance for fully vaccinated people.
“Americans have spent the last year and a half making tremendous sacrifices to halt the virus’s spread, but they are confused and have lost trust in our institutions. The mixed messaging could also degrade trust in the efficacy of vaccines.”
The bill would also require the GAO to determine whether outside entities, including teachers’ unions, were in a position to impact the CDC’s guidance.
The CDC revised its mask guidance last week, telling fully vaccinated people to don masks in crowded indoor settings. The agency based the decision on a study of an outbreak in Massachusetts which found that 74 percent of the people infected had been fully vaccinated. The study also suggested that fully vaccinated people who become infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, could spread the virus the same way unvaccinated people do.
The CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, is the pathogen that causes COVID-19.
“The CDC’s flip flop on mask guidance sends a confusing message to Montanans and the American people, and has not been clearly justified with data,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said in a statement. “The CDC needs to improve its communications with the public and stop undermining vaccine confidence.”
“Over the past year and a half, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued conflicting health guidance, at times only weeks apart, and at times without supporting clinical data,” Sen. Cythia Lummis (r-Wyo.) said in a statement. “Their actions have unnecessarily divided our country, and fueled partisan conflict. The job of the CDC is to help control and prevent disease, not play politics. It’s time for oversight and reform.”
This article was originally published by the Epoch Times. Read the original article.
The Epoch Times is the fastest-growing independent news media in America. We are nonpartisan and dedicated to truthful reporting.
