At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were plenty of precautions and guidelines being slung about, some a little more diligently than others.

This was a novel virus, after all, and the guidance of our experts was expected to shift somewhat as we learned ever more about the way this strain of coronavirus was going to behave.

But, as we’re finding out now, some of these suggestions may have come right out of thin air.

Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), admitted during an interview on Face the Nation that the six foot social distancing rule recommended by public health officials for months on end was actually “arbitrary in and of itself,” and he noted that “nobody knows where it came from.”

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Speaking with Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan, Gottlieb discussed the rules and risks early in the pandemic, explaining that the Trump administration shifted its focus to the impact lockdowns and rules would have on the economy and children.

The admission came during a conversation about bringing children back into the classroom.

“And in fact, when the Biden administration wanted to open schools in the spring, this past spring, they got the CDC to change that guidance from six feet to three feet,” Gottlieb continued, admitting the original guidance was “arbitrary” and had unknown origins.

“The six feet was arbitrary in and of itself, nobody knows where it came from,” he said. “The initial recommendation that the CDC brought to the White House and I talk about this was 10 feet, and a political appointee in the White House said we can’t recommend 10 feet.”

One can only imagine how things would have turned out differently for the restaurant and live music industries had there been an understanding that this number wasn’t based in absolute science.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were plenty of precautions and guidelines being slung about, some a little more diligently than others. This was a novel virus, after all, and the guidance of our experts was expected to shift somewhat as we learned ever more about the way this strain of coronavirus was going to behave. But, as we’re finding out now, some of these suggestions may have come right out of thin air. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), admitted during an interview on Face the Nation that the six foot social distancing rule recommended by public health officials for months on end was actually “arbitrary in and of itself,” and he noted that “nobody knows where it came from.” Speaking with Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan, Gottlieb discussed the rules and risks early in the pandemic, explaining that the Trump administration shifted its focus to the impact lockdowns and rules would have on the economy and children. The admission came during a conversation about bringing children back into the classroom. “And in fact, when the Biden administration wanted to open schools in the spring, this past spring, they got the CDC to change that guidance from six feet to three feet,” Gottlieb continued, admitting the original guidance was “arbitrary” and had unknown origins. “The six feet was arbitrary in and of itself, nobody knows where it came from,” he said. “The initial recommendation that the CDC brought to the White House and I talk about this was 10 feet, and a political appointee in the White House said we can’t recommend 10 feet.” One can only imagine how things would have turned out differently for the restaurant and live music industries had there been an understanding that this number wasn’t…

As a great many of our nation’s children begin to shuffle back into the classroom this month, there are concerns among come that they could create a COVID super spreader event simply due to their inability to yet be vaccinated against the illness.

But all that could be changing soon, as Pfizer declares that their vaccine is safe for children aged 5-11.

A smaller dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and generates a “robust” immune response in a clinical trial of kids ages 5 to 11, the drugmakers announced Monday.

The news couldn’t come any sooner for parents anxious to get their children vaccinated as kids start the new school year with the delta variant surging across America. Children’s Covid cases remain disturbingly high with 243,000 new infections during the week ended Sept. 9. — the second-highest number of kids’ cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the most recent data from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

How quickly could these shots be approved by the FDA?

The data, which included more than 2,200 children, will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and other health regulators “as soon as possible,” the companies said. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said last week the company could submit data on children ages 5 to 11 by the end of this month. If the FDA spends as much time reviewing the data for that age group as it did for 12- to 15-year-olds, the shots could be available in time for Halloween.

The announcement could renew the debate over whether or not COVID-19 vaccines should be mandated in schools – a point that has been hotly contested over the course of the last several months.

As a great many of our nation’s children begin to shuffle back into the classroom this month, there are concerns among come that they could create a COVID super spreader event simply due to their inability to yet be vaccinated against the illness. But all that could be changing soon, as Pfizer declares that their vaccine is safe for children aged 5-11. A smaller dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and generates a “robust” immune response in a clinical trial of kids ages 5 to 11, the drugmakers announced Monday. The news couldn’t come any sooner for parents anxious to get their children vaccinated as kids start the new school year with the delta variant surging across America. Children’s Covid cases remain disturbingly high with 243,000 new infections during the week ended Sept. 9. — the second-highest number of kids’ cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the most recent data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. How quickly could these shots be approved by the FDA? The data, which included more than 2,200 children, will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and other health regulators “as soon as possible,” the companies said. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said last week the company could submit data on children ages 5 to 11 by the end of this month. If the FDA spends as much time reviewing the data for that age group as it did for 12- to 15-year-olds, the shots could be available in time for Halloween. The announcement could renew the debate over whether or not COVID-19 vaccines should be mandated in schools – a point that has been hotly contested over the course of the last several months.