HICPAC Next Steps

Expert Sign-on Letter by September 18, The People’s Register, Contact Democracy Now and Great Press Coverage

Thank you to everyone who turned out to the August 23 HICPAC Meeting.  If you missed it, you can watch the public comment here.  People highlighted HICPAC’s need to include patient groups, occupational safety and health professionals, ventilation experts, as well as to acknowledge the science of aerosol transmission, and engage layers of protection to protect healthcare workers and patients alike. Several speakers testified about the need for universal masking in healthcare settings. Unlike the June 23 meeting, this time, HICPAC limited testimonies to only 14 people, although many more had signed up. 

National Nurses United has created another expert sign-on letter calling on CDC Director Mandy Cohen to create a process to substantively include patient groups, occupational safety and health professionals, and ventilation experts, as well as to acknowledge the science of aerosol transmission.

While the CDC solicited written public comments on their proposed changes, they elected not to accept public comments through the Federal Register, where public comments would be immediately visible to the public.  Instead, they requested comments via email, and promised to post them within 60 days of the August 22, 2023 meeting. They still haven’t posted these. 

We believe it is essential for the public, and HICPAC, to see people’s comments responding to HICPAC’s concerning proposed recommendations as soon as possible.

So we asked people to forward us their comments to HICPAC, and created the People’s Register. Check out comments from others and write to your legislators about how CDC/HICPAC’s decisions impact you personally — they need to hear from us.

We have been wondering why Democracy Now has been silent on these concerning changes.  Join us in writing Democracy Now and asking them to cover HICPAC and the moves to undermine public health. 

Finally, please see some great press coverage of the push-back on the August 23 HICPAC meeting, in Forbes, Source New Mexico, and MedPage Today. Judy Stone’s column in Forbes also discussed MGH’s policy, which has been denying reasonable accommodations requests by patients for masked care. HICPAC Committee member and Mass General Hospital (MGH) Infection Control physician Erica Shenoy was queried about this policy but did not respond.