covid advisory board member says the test kit shortage was really a factor. that s really about the availability of these rapid antigen tests. and they do remain in short supply across the country. reporter: many sympathetic health professionals worry the cdc is confusing the public and undermining its own reputation. i m very concerned about the cdc towing the line of whether or not we re basing our guidelines on supplies, whether we re basing our guidelines on economics or whether we re basing our guidelines on science because it always should be rooted in science. tom, the american medical association just weighed in, criticizing the cdc s recommendations. reporter: the ama says that the recommendations are confusing and the lack of a testing component, it says, could cause this to spread even further. hundreds of thousands of people returning to work while still infected, lester. all right tom costello also here in washington. all of this causing severe disruptions in t
remarks today on the rapidly spreading omicron variant and the steps the white house is taking to address it. we ll hear the latest data on omicron as public health officials say it is unclear when it will peak. that is difficult to predict. we ve seen the rise to the peak, it s been several weeks in south africa and united kingdom. we re cautious about printing what we will experience here in the united states. covid has made many predictions wrong. we focus on taking the mitigation measures. reporter: we re expecting an announcement whether the cdc will revise its quarantine guidelines to include a testing component. dr. fauci and cdc director rochelle walensky gave conflicting accounts whether it s necessary. we waiting for update on
less than those who are not vaccinated but break through infections are occurring but those vaccinated are not dying. we really have to change our mindset when it comes to covid-19 and these vaccines because i see a lot of people that are upset when they get break breakthrough cases. the vaccines were not designed to get you from getting covid. they were designed to prevent you from dying from covid. i wonder what you make of the cdc. there s been some pushback for them cutting isolation from ten days to five days if someone tests positive. should the enough guidance have included a testing component and some nuance between those who are unvaccinated and those who are vaccinated? absolutely. those are two huge points that were in the net of holds in the
listen to this. is the c.d.c. still led by science and not other factors in determining the policy? jacqui, the c.d.c. is absolutely led by data and science and again, if they had not changed their recommendations over the course of time, schools would probably be closed across the country, right? they, of course, are continuing to address as they have for the past year plus steps that need to be taken in order to protect the american people. and the c.d.c. director said in the covid briefing the scarcity of tests we have been seeing across the country played no role in their decision not to include a testing component in their initial revised quarantine guidance which has been as we saw yesterday newly revised again. a couple of other points out of today s briefing. the white house doubling down on the president s comments yesterday, this is still a
on our health care resources. miguel, thank you so much for that reporting. sources tell cnn that the cdc will be clarifying the guidance as soon as today on the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for covid. the agency has faced real questions over the update for not including the testing component, one that shortened the isolation from ten days to five. joining me is chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. it does sound like the clarification is coming quite soon. what do you think of this? well, you know, i think the original problem still here, kate, is that we don t have enough tests. i think that is fundamentally what is still driving this. i think it just makes total sense f we had enough tests, people would get tested before they come out of isolation. let me show you where things stand now, and as you mentioned,