CDC is poised to weaken infection control. Show your opposition.
Testify at today HICPAC's meeting & more actions
The CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee August meeting is TODAY, August 22 at noon. If you have signed up for public comment, please show up and raise your hand to testify.
If prompted, use passcode: L7!3wT@z
HICPAC says they will not allow everyone who is signed up to testify - they have slotted 30 minutes for a webinar with capacity for 500 people. It is important for us to show up en masse either way. Please see these talking points from National Nurses United and incorporate at least one into your statement. See also our People’s CDC’s Recommendations to HICPAC.
If you cannot attend, or you are not selected to give oral commentary, please send a written comment to the CDC by August 25 at hicpac@cdc.gov and bcc thepeoplescdc@gmail.com.
From HICPAC:
To address the significant interest in participation in the August 22nd oral public comment session, public comment speakers will be selected based on the order they are received and will continue until the allotted public comment period has ended. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak and may only comment once per meeting. We will not be able to accommodate all the requests for oral public comments that we have received for this session.
Note: Written comments should not exceed one single-spaced typed page and must contain the submitter’s name, address, and organizational affiliation, as well as the topic being addressed. Submit to hicpac@cdc.gov and bcc thepeoplescdc@gmail.com. Then, submit your comment to us at the People’s Register through this form.
If you can, record your comment as a video and post it on social media, with hashtag #cdccontrolinfection and tag @CDCGov and @PeoplesCDC or email it to us at thepeoplescdc@gmail.com. Make sure to say your name and why you’re testifying in your video!
Please tell your legislators how CDC/HICPAC’s decisions impact you personally — they need to hear from us.
Yesterday, August 21, Forbes published a fantastic article about HICPAC’s flawed proposed recommendations with the following excerpts. Please share this article with your Senators, members of Congress and follow up with a phone call.
Write and call your state legislators as well. You can also use our action network tool to send your Federal Senators and Congresspeople a letter directly.
Here’s an excerpt from the Forbes article:
CDC Poised to Weaken Masking, Infection Control.
Judy Stone, Senior Contributor, Forbes, August 21, 2023
“Lisa Brosseau, an expert on respiratory protection from infections at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and retired professor, expressed outrage at HICPAC’s process: “Why are they not consulting with all the people and all the stakeholders? They are not, and that's a sort of basic expectation of a federal advisory committee.”
Brosseau was equally critical of the committee’s literature review, saying that it was “cherrypicked” and “the most ridiculous literature review I've ever seen.” She concluded, “I think they were hoping nobody would notice” how the review was manipulated.”
For more information please watch and share this video from National Nurses United for more background on HICPAC and their problematic proposed recommendations and process.
Finally, please submit your comment to The People’s Register
Since CDC has not created a place to publicly post comments to HICPAC on the Federal Register (they have only listed an internal email address and say they will post comments in 60 days), we created the People’s Register. After you send written comment to the CDC, please post your comment on this form as well, and we will post on our website.
Again, here is the link to join the CDC’s webinar, Aug 22, 2023 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://cdc.zoomgov.com/j/1615322622?pwd=T1Vnci9IQVF6YS9nQzBzTTlTZTQzZz09
Passcode: L7!3wT@z
In solidarity,
The People’s CDC