When the CDC changed the reporting criteria for all COVID testing by increasing the number of cycles for “unvaccinated” versus “vaccinated” people, this was the EXACT desired propaganda outcome. (Unvaccinated tests require >40 cycles, vaccinated <28.)
Unfortunately in the UK, vaccinated people are dying at 200% of the rate for unvaccinated.
The fix is in. As per the usual playbook. The Delta “variant” is merely a feature, not a bug.
The CDC didn’t change the PCR tests’ cycle thresholds for vaccinated people. The guidance cited in the article refers to genomic sequencing, which is used for identifying the virus’ lineage and variants. It isn’t used to test for the presence of infection. The CDC is still recording all vaccine breakthrough cases, not only the ones that led to hospitalization or death.
As evidence for its claim that the U.S. CDC is “lowering their CT value when testing samples from suspected ‘breakthrough infections’” to “decrease the number of ‘breakthrough infections’ being officially recorded”, the article cited this statement on the CDC website:
“For cases with a known RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) value, submit only specimens with Ct value ≤28 to CDC for sequencing. (Sequencing is not feasible with higher Ct values.)”
This is a grossly inaccurate interpretation of the CDC guidance. The guidance applies to samples sent for genomic sequencing, which is a technique used to obtain the genetic sequence of the virus. This technique allows scientists to determine the virus’ lineage and identify variants and provides scientists with important information on how the virus is evolving and how mutations change the way the virus behaves. This information in turn helps to guide public health measures and vaccine development.
As is evident from the statement, the CDC didn’t alter the cycle threshold value for the PCR test used to identify presence of infection. The statement is relevant to genomic sequencing, which is an additional test used on samples that already tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. The reason why this guidance is in place is because genomic sequencing requires a relatively large amount of the virus’ genetic material in the sample. Therefore, a sample with only trace amounts of the virus’ genetic material, which would show a high Ct value, wouldn’t be suitable for sequencing.
Not sequencing a sample doesn’t change the fact that someone tested positive for COVID-19 by PCR, meaning that the person is infected, making them a COVID-19 case. Therefore, this CDC guidance has no influence on the number of COVID-19 cases recorded, as the article claimed.