JAMA Pediatrics Editor in Chief: CDC Camp Guidelines ‘Unnecessarily Draconian’

On Tuesday’s “CNN Tonight,” JAMA Pediatrics Editor in Chief Dr. Dimitri Christakis criticized the CDC’s “unnecessarily draconian” guidelines for summer camps and said that the sacrifices children have made “will have long-term implications for their social and emotional development. We really must prioritize doing everything we can to normalize their lives as soon as possible.”

Christakis said, “Well, I do think it’s unnecessarily draconian. You know, it’s really disappointing to see that the recommendations for summer camps are about where they were last year. Actually, in some ways, they’re more strict than they were last year. And we’ve learned a lot in the past year. We’ve learned that transmission outdoors is rarer. We’ve known that young children transmit less frequently than older children, and of course, we have a vaccine that’s available.”

He further stated, “If your child is 12 years or older, get them vaccinated, and then they can go to summer camp. If they’re younger than 12, this summer, when there won’t be a vaccine available for them and they’re playing outside, let them not wear masks, test frequently if you can, and have them not wear masks. And if they’re indoors and can’t socially distance, then they can mask like they’ve been doing in schools. It’s just really interesting to me, Don, that we have stricter guidelines around children and camps than we do in restaurants, than we do for adults. Why? Why are we not prioritizing letting children get back to their lives? They’ve made an enormous sacrifice over the last 15 months, a sacrifice, by the way, that will have long-term implications for their social and emotional development. We really must prioritize doing everything we can to normalize their lives as soon as possible.”

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