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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not be releasing its guidance for vaccinated Americans on Thursday as originally planned, according to two senior administration officials with knowledge of the situation. After a series of meetings and calls with senior officials on the White House’s Covid-19 task force and the Department of Health and Human Services over the last two days, the CDC was told to “hold off on releasing” the recommendations, one of those sources said. The reason is still unclear but one senior administration official said the guidelines were still being finalized. (Banco, 3/3)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising against close, indoor gatherings with non-household members ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, in an effort to prevent further coronavirus spread. "Attending gatherings to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day increases your risk of getting and spreading COVID-19," the health agency says. "The safest way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year is to gather virtually, with people who live with you, or outside and at least 6 feet apart from others." (Rivas, 3/3)

The Food and Drug Administration is under increasing pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to address the growing backlog of drug inspections — nearly a year after Covid-19 prompted the agency to halt most plant visits. From March through September, FDA inspected just three plants outside the U.S., well below the 600-plus it visited in each of the prior two years, the Government Accountability Office said last month. FDA has also struggled to keep up with inspections within U.S. borders, conducting just 52 during the same seven-month period last year, compared with roughly 400 each in 2019 and 2018. (Smalley, 3/2)

When Ram Iyer started his new job at the Food and Drug Administration in 2020, he didn’t know how soon he’d have the chance to prove himself. As the agency’s first chief data officer, he had been brought on to steer the FDA through an era characterized by ballooning datasets and new medical products. “At this point, with just two months in the agency, I have more questions and hypotheses than answers,” he said in a public meeting on June 30. (Palmer, 3/4)