CDC Pulls Holiday Guidance Released In Error, Update Coming Soon

NEW JERSEY - Updated guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding COVID-19 protocols during the holidays was removed Monday just days after it was posted to the agency website.

As of Monday, the holiday tips landing page was removed, with CDC representatives noting that old guidance was posted in error and that new guidance is coming soon.

"The content is in the process of being updated by CDC to reflect current guidance ahead of this holiday season," CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said in a statement. "The page had a technical update on Friday, but doesn’t reflect the CDC’s guidance ahead of this upcoming holiday season. CDC will share additional guidance soon."

The guidance, which was posted on Friday, listed virtual and in-person gatherings with fully vaccinated individuals as being the safest options for holiday gatherings. The agency also noted that masks should be worn at indoor gatherings or outdoor gatherings that are crowded, or gatherings with those who are not fully vaccinated.

"Attending gatherings to celebrate events and holidays increases your risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. The safest way to celebrate is virtually, with people who live with you, or outside and at least 6 feet apart from others," the CDC noted in its since-removed guidance.

"If celebrating indoors, bring in fresh air by opening windows and doors, if possible. You can use a window fan in one of the open windows to blow air out of the window. This will pull fresh air in through the other open windows.”

During a Monday afternoon press briefing, Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated that Halloween celebrations will proceed in the Garden State in 2021, albeit with safety precautions throughout the rest of the fall and winter celebratory months.

"We were open for business [last] Halloween, and we will be open for business this Halloween," Murphy said. "We just ask everyone to be safe, smart and do the right thing. My concern is … we're in this several month period where it's one holiday after another. Some religious, some secular, but they sort of come in with a cadence."

During his Monday news conference, Murphy stressed the importance of getting vaccinated, as well as how vaccination rates in the state could impact the trajectory of the pandemic during the holiday season in New Jersey.

"The key will be how people behave when they're inside," Murphy added. "It won't be going door-to-door trick or treating … but it will be the party in somebody's basement or the dinner table. We didn't have a vaccine last Halloween, [but] we got one now, we know it works and we know our numbers are very high."

Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said Sunday on CBS’ Face The Nation that it is "too soon to tell" whether Christmas gatherings will be safe.

“We have had over the last few weeks a turning around of the acceleration of this, starting to come down in cases and hospitalizations and soon, deaths,” Fauci said. “The one thing that we don’t want to do is that we don’t want to become complacent and say: ‘Okay now we need to pull back. We don’t need any more people to get vaccinated.’”

He later clarified his comments on Monday during an appearance on CNN following backlash.

“The best way to ensure that we’ll be in good shape as we get into the winter would be to get more and more people vaccinated. That was misinterpreted as my saying, we can’t spend Christmas with our families, which was absolutely not the case," Fauci said.

Over 5.8 million New Jerseyans are fully vaccinated as of Monday, or nearly 75 percent of the population, according to Murphy’s remarks. That's compared to about 56 percent of the U.S. population that is fully vaccinated.

Nearly 75% of all eligible New Jersey residents are now fully vaccinated.

More than 83% of eligible residents have now received at least their first shot.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) October 4, 2021