The CDC Recommends

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About

The CDC Recommends refers to snowclone parodies of announcements from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding updated COVID-19 guidelines. Though present throughout the pandemic, they saw an increase in usage after the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people could gather indoors without masks and social distancing, as well as late 2021 when the CDC shortened its recommended isolation period for people who tested positive for COVID but were asymptomatic.

Origin

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC has offered safety protocols regarding gathering and mask-wearing. Parodies of their announcements have typically followed new announcements. For example, on September 28th, 2020, Twitter user @AshCullinane^[1] posted a parody of the CDC's guidelines for Thanksgiving (shown below).

Spread

Parodies grew more popular when the CDC began announcing less-strict recommendations for fully vaccinated people in the spring of 2021. For example, on April 16th, 2021, Twitter user @TiffMGraves^[2] posted, "Even if you are fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends not scheduling afternoon meetings on Fridays," gaining over 120 retweets and 940 likes (shown below, left). On April 27th, Twitter user @danielleweisber^[3] tweeted, "even if you are fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends masking half of your face while living secretly in the opera house," gaining over 10,000 retweets and 73,000 likes.

The parodies saw a particular spike on May 13th, 2021, when the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people could gather indoors without masks or social distancing.^[4] For example, @TrixieMattel^[5] posted a parody that gained over 660 retweets and 8,300 likes (shown below, left). User @Darcangel21^[6] posted a parody that gained over 250 retweets and 1,400 likes (shown below, right).

December 2021 Resurgence

On December 27th, 2021, the CDC shortened its recommended isolation period for people who test positively for COVID but are asymptomatic from 10 days to five days.^[7] The organization's stated reason for this change is that it anticipates a surge in COVID cases due to the Omicron variant, but many of these cases could be asymptomatic. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said, "Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact, many are going to be asymptomatic. We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science." The CDC also wrote:

The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after. Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for five days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for five days to minimize the risk of infecting others.

The change was viewed negatively by many commenters who felt the decision was made to protect business interests rather than public health, particularly as Delta Airlines had recommended making the change prior to the announcement.^[8] Thus, shortly after the announcement was made, "The CDC Recommends" parody tweets returned, often featuring the "CDC" giving bad advice. For example, user @MNateShyamalan^[9] tweeted a parody on December 28th, 2021, referencing Jurassic Park, gaining over 14,000 retweets and 126,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). User @SamanthaWeiner1^[10] made a joke about texting your ex on New Year's that same day, gaining over 1,000 retweets and 15,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, center). User @Chinchillazilla^[11] also posted a joke that day about being in a zombie movie, gaining over 16,000 retweets and 121,000 likes in roughly 24 hours (shown below, right).