The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are about to change the rules once again on what Americans can do — and with whom — in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, again. And look who’s front and center to give us the good news on what’s allowed now. Why, it’s Dr. Anthony Fauci.

As the LA Times reported Tuesday:

People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 may soon be cleared to gather in small groups without masks, according to federal officials.

The expected update to public health guidance, announced during a White House COVID-19 task force meeting, would mark the first sign of a return to normalcy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said that a small reunion of fully-vaccinated people presents a low risk of spreading COVID-19.

“I use the example of a daughter coming in from out of town who is doubly vaccinated, and a husband and wife doubly vaccinated, and maybe a next-door neighbor, who you know are doubly vaccinated,” Fauci said.

He continued:

“Small gatherings in the home of people, I think you can clearly feel that the relative risk is so low that you would not have to wear a mask, that you could have a good social gathering within the home.”

But, the piece cautions, even vaccinated people aren’t completely safe:

Fully vaccinated individuals still shouldn’t expect guidance that suggests it’s safe to travel anytime soon.

Did you notice the wording? “The first sign of a return to normalcy.” You have to wait for the government to tell you when your life can return to normal. Seems legit.

Politico’s headline on their story spells it out, too, in case you missed it: (emphasis mine)

CDC’s draft guidelines for vaccinated Americans call for small steps toward normal life

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to release guidance this week on safe activities for people who have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine amid growing questions about when, and how, shots will enable a return to normal life.

[…]

The CDC guidance, which could be released as early as Thursday, will include recommendations that Americans limit their social interactions to small gatherings in the home with other fully vaccinated individuals, wear masks in public and adhere to other public-health measures such as social distancing for the foreseeable future.

But the agency’s advice is likely to disappoint many who hoped the increasing pace of inoculations would allow some common restrictions to be relaxed immediately for vaccinated people.

There’s that word again: “allow.”

It’s worth repeating (though you’re probably well aware) that both the CDC and Fauci, the Biden administration’s chief press mouthpiece for this scheme, have contradicted each other (and themselves) numerous times. But, in this case, they seem to be working hand in glove — albeit desperately — to sell this new narrative.

Indeed, as my colleague Streiff pointed out in a recent piece, here’s something Fauci said during the White House COVID-19 Response Team press conference on February 22 — less than two weeks ago:

Well, I think what you’re going to start seeing really soon, we’ve had some very serious discussions, with our colleagues at the CDC, is that what happens when you get two vaccinated people?

I’m vaccinated, my wife vaccinated, my daughters vaccinated. Back before vaccination, if they wanted to come to visit you, they’d have to quarantine for a while, get tested, wear a mask.

What we’re saying right now, even though it isn’t backed by data, it’s backed by common sense that if you have two vaccinated people, and they want to get together, be they family members, or friends that you know, are vaccinated, you can start getting, as individual people, even though the risk is not zero.

The risk becomes extremely low when you have both parties vaccinated. So, we’re going to start seeing people saying, “Hey, the more people get vaccinated, I can have dinner with my family member that comes in.”

See how he cleverly telegraphed that this change was on the way?

Streiff was right then to ask this question: “By the way, does he imply in this, ‘they’d have to quarantine for a while, get tested, wear a mask,’ that mask wear is NOT required if everyone is vaccinated?”

It turns out that, yes, that’s exactly what our betters are about to say with a straight face.

On Wednesday, RedState’s Sister Toldjah wrote about even more mixed messaging coming from the Biden White House, including from Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Joe Biden, who thought it would help the American people stay healthy by scaring them about those evil Republican governors in red states like Texas and Mississippi, who obviously want their citizens to die of the Chinese plague by allowing them to make up their own minds about free association and mask-wearing.

It’s the same mentality that the bureaucrats in the healthcare establishment have about our rights; they know best, and the freedoms Americans know are our birthright come second in the face of their regulations and mandates. This is madness. Why is this happening then? Perhaps one explanation: someone at the White House may be getting nervous that not enough people are taking the vaccine.