CDC LIFTS MASK MANDATE
Last Thursday, the CDC released new guidelines for those who are vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask. According to the CDC, people who have gone two weeks since their final COVID-19 vaccine no longer need to wear masks. There is one exception. Those who work in healthcare, prison, or transportation must have a mask on at all times. Even though vaccinated people can still catch the virus, physical distancing is no longer necessary for the fully vaccinated.
Although the new recommendations are based on scientific evidence, there is a lot of speculation. The CDC’s change is aimed to serve as an incentive to get more people vaccinated. “I think the CDC realised that if they don’t do something that sounds reasonable to people, then they’ve kind of lost the influence that the rules make sense,” says Dr. Gabor Kelen, director of the emergency medicine department at Johns Hopkins University.
Your health is in your hands. If you are unvaccinated, please get vaccinated as soon as you can to decrease your risk to #COVID19. If you choose not to be vaccinated, continue to wear a mask and practice all mitigation strategies to protect yourself from the virus. https://t.co/iv8PuiBIJV
— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) May 14, 2021
“For 16 months we’ve been saying that it’s important to wear these masks to protect yourselves and now what we’re saying is it’s going to be hard to get back to life as we know it without these masks,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “We specifically have acknowledged that if you are vaccinated, there is no shame, no problem in continuing to wear your mask — and just like it has been hard to have everybody get masked, I think this is going to take some time for us all to get used to.”
The CDC’s abrupt decision has caused much confusion and frustration for frontline workers and those who have children. The CDC’s new guidance is in place for those who are fully vaccinated. It makes scientific sense for vaccinated people to stop masking indoors, but it gave states the green light to drop indoor mask mandates for everyone. That is not a wise decision by authorities at this stage of the pandemic.
