The Biden Administration's Mask Confusion - New CDC Mask Guidelines Cause Confusion

The Biden Administration's Mask Confusion - New CDC Mask Quidelines Cause ConfusionShow more

The Biden Administration's Mask Confusion - New CDC Mask Quidelines Cause Confusion
Federal health officials acknowledge their reversal on masking guidance for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 is unwelcome, but they maintain new scientific data supports recommending additional precautions, even for those who are ostensibly immunized.

“I know that this is not a message America wants to hear,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday.

The CDC announced Tuesday that vaccinated Americans in areas with “high” or “substantial” virus transmission should wear masks indoors, and all children and adults in K-12 schools cover their faces, regardless of vaccination status. The shift comes as COVID-19 cases rise across the country and the more contagious delta variant becomes the dominant strain, overwhelming hospitals in some areas.

Although all available data indicates the vaccines protect most who experience breakthrough infections against serious symptoms, officials said new research—which has not yet been made public—suggests people who are vaccinated can transmit the delta variant to others. If they interact with children, the immunocompromised, or others who have not been vaccinated, they might infect them.

“The science that prompted this guidance is just days old...,” Walensky said. “We wanted people who are vaccinated to understand they could potentially pass this virus.”

Many politicians and social media users have made clear the new guidance is, in fact, a message they do not want to hear, and it is one they have no intention of following. Several Republican governors whose states have low vaccination rates and high infection rates dismissed the advice as baseless federal overreach.

“The Biden administration’s new COVID-19 guidance telling fully vaccinated Iowans to now wear masks is not only counterproductive to our vaccination efforts but also not grounded in reality or common sense,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox Business the guidance represented an effort to “use fear to control us.” Florida accounted for 20% of new infections in the U.S. in the last week, and cases reported in the state have risen by 400% since the start of this month.

“We've got to step up and say, enough's enough, CDC,” Scott said. “You need to put out information, give us better information. You know, we're smart. We can make good decisions for ourselves. We don't need you to tell us to wear a mask.”

Republicans tried to force the House of Representatives to adjourn Wednesday after a mask mandate was revived at the behest of the House physician. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, raged against the requirement in a floor speech, claiming it would “breed resentment.”

“Consider resentment being magnified right here on the floor of the House of Representatives,” Roy said. “We are absolutely sick and tired of it. So are the American people.”

Democrats have been more receptive to the masking recommendations, and some liberal-leaning communities had already reimposed mask mandates on their own. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly called Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., a “moron” Wednesday after he asserted the mask rules were not based in science.

“We cannot ignore the rapid spread of the COVID-19 delta variant in Missouri — outpacing much of the country,” Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quentin Lucas said as he prepared to announce a new indoor mask mandate. “We will do all we can to ensure our corner of this state is safe.”

Reactions from epidemiologists and public health experts have been more mixed. Some felt lifting the masking guidance in May was premature and reinstating it now is justified, but others have questioned the rationale for the change offered by the CDC.

According to Dr. Timothy Murphy, an infectious disease expert at the University at Buffalo, the guidance appears to be an appropriate response to evidence that vaccinated people might be able to spread the virus. Given the confusion and frustration that greeted the announcement, he suggested the CDC could have communicated it better, but the policy reflects the science.