White House briefing room to return to full capacity

"Since the onset of the pandemic, our priority has been to keep journalists safe, while ensuring that the critical work of informing the public could continue uninterrupted," the White House Correspondents Association said in a memo sent to reporters on Sunday. "We appreciate the sacrifices made by every member of the press corps and we thank you all for your cooperation over the last 15 months." The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room will return to full seating capacity Monday and the White House Correspondents Association’s pre-pandemic seating chart will return. A review of permanent seating will begin toward the end of this year, the association said. The association said said more than 98 percent of the 500 member journalists who responded to a recent survey said they were fully vaccinated, meaning more than two weeks had passed since their second coronavirus vaccine dose or the only shot of a single-shot regimen.