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By Aleks Phillips
U.S. News Reporter
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Video of attendees at an American Association of Immunologists (AAI) gala dancing in close proximity to one another has sparked outrage by those concerned about the continued spread of COVID-19.
Immunology 2023, which was held on Sunday at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., featured a packed dance floor of guests dancing energetically to a rendition of"We Found Love" by Rihanna, according to footage posted to Twitter by AAI on Monday.
The video and the reaction to it has reopened a debate about whether the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered over, and whether normal socializing should be allowed to return fully.
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While some have said restrictions on mixing should never have been imposed, others have argued that especially medical professionals who treat immunocompromised patients—those with a limited ability to fight communicable diseases—should continue to remain cautious while the virus remains circulating in the general population.
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The gala came just over a month after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan resolution that officially ended the national emergency, which allowed the government to respond to the pandemic, as of May 11. He previously opposed the move but did not exercise his veto power.
This was followed on May 5 by the World Health Organization declaring that it considered the COVID-19 pandemic to now be an "ongoing health issue" rather than constituting "a public health emergency of international concern."
To date, there have been more than 1.12 million deaths due to the virus in the U.S. alone, data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. However, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 has fallen each week since January, with 8,701 in the week of May 6.
The number of deaths per week has been trending downward in recent months, with 323 in the week of May 6, representing 1.8 percent of total deaths in America.
The AAI states in its COVID-19 policy for the 2023 gala that it "urges" all attendees to be fully vaccinated, but said that no proof of vaccination would be required. It also encouraged testing prior to arrival.
"Although the COVID-19 pandemic is waning, many individuals and/or their family members are still at risk of serious illness," the policy added, noting it "strongly encourages" mask-wearing during the convention and in "any other settings in which social distancing is not possible."
None of the people visible in the video appear to be wearing a mask and were much closer to one another than the six-foot distance recommended for social distancing by the CDC, provoking criticism.
Newsweek reached out to the AAI via email for comment on Tuesday.
"YIKES, hope all of your patients see this and cancel appointments in the next few weeks with y'all!" Emily Johnson responded.
"WOW! This is why [we should] keep masks in healthcare because what you collect outside, most definitely gets brought in to your patients, many of them the most vulnerable," the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project wrote.
"Thank you for once again showing that people, including most of those in healthcare don't care about their immunocompromised patients," another user tweeted. "Hope the COVID you catch there and pass to your patients was worth it."
Even prior to the end of the national emergency the pandemic caused, rules around COVID-19 restrictions had been relaxed, and as early as April 2022, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former White House chief medical adviser, said the U.S. was "out of the pandemic phase" due to vaccination rates.
In August, the CDC streamlined its coronavirus guidance, recommending that those exposed to the virus wear a face mask for 10 days instead of quarantining, and reducing the quarantine time for positive cases to five days.
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