Despite the Delta variant circulating in other countries for months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many Americans were caught off guard by how contagious the new viral strain is, even for fully vaccinated people. The CDC failed to track the growing risks of transmission in the United States: in May, the agency stopped collecting data on breakthrough infections that don't result in hospitalization, blinding us to the full implications of the Delta variant. The CDC's continued failure to collect this data continues to put people at risk.

To protect public health, the main thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated. However, we also need to collect essential data on COVID-19 cases and transmission and respond quickly to new developments with smart evidence-based policies.

Sign the petition and tell the CDC to do a better job of collecting data on the virus, staying on top of new developments, and aligning guidelines with the latest information.

Subject: Step up with data collection on Delta variant and respond with science-based policy

Letter to Target

To protect public health, we need to collect essential data on COVID-19 cases and transmission and respond quickly to new developments with smart evidence-based policies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must do a better job collecting and reporting data on breakthrough infections and transmission. We need good data to make informed decisions and best protect the public. With millions of children and some adults ineligible for the vaccine, and clear evidence of vaccinated infection and transmission, the CDC must step up and proactively collect data on variants, transmission, and breakthrough outbreaks, including cases that do not result in hospitalization.

Given the data on vaccinated transmission, the CDC must also make sure that guidance and protocols for vaccinated individuals exposed to COVID-19 matches the current science and epidemiological data.

The data on vaccinated infection and transmission of the Delta variant is clear, and the CDC's delayed response to the Delta variant is putting everyone at risk. We need to use the new information to make science-based policy. Failing to fully address the risks of the Delta variant is a failure of science communication, does a disservice to public health, and enables more transmission of the virus and more potential for future variants to emerge.