A growing number of health experts who were vaccinated against COVID-19 admitted that they will prolong their use of face covering in public places, as federal officials acknowledged that the new eases issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) need clarification.
The comments underscore a growing backlash in some quarters over the CDC’s surprising decision to reverse mask-wearing mandates last week. Some stores admitted that they continue to require the use of face covers from their customers, while others, including Trader Joe’s and Walmart, discarded it.
California officials have not yet released their detailed response to the CDC’s relaxed guidance, though Gov. Gavin Newsom noted Friday that the federal recommendations “created a new anxiety for many: that it may be too early and too flexible.”
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Experts have divided opinions, but many agree that it is better to lean towards the security side, at least for now. “I strongly recommend to others that when they are in a closed place, where vaccinated and unvaccinated people mix, such as grocery stores, that people wear a mask,” tweeted Dr. Carlos del Río, an expert in infectious diseases and Executive Associate Dean of the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, tweeted: “This is my personal practice for now: I continue to wear a mask when entering public places, such as grocery stores, until there are more vaccinated and the numbers of infections have gone down ”.
“Add me to that list as well,” Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, director of UC San Francisco’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics, responded in a tweet. “I will use my mask indoors a little longer until the rates [de personas vacunadas] be higher ”.
Leading scientists and clinicians generally agree that vaccinated people should feel very confident that they have good protection against COVID-19.
But some suggest waiting longer before allowing vaccinated people to remove their masks in closed public settings; they worry that those who are not vaccinated will defy the rules and also choose to discard them, which would increase the danger of transmission among those without immunity and put children too young to be vaccinated or immunosuppressed individuals at greater risk.
In an interview last week, Bibbins-Domingo felt that the new guidelines could also pose a threat to those who want to get vaccinated but have not yet been able to for a variety of reasons.
Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, tweeted that the CDC was trying to communicate the effectiveness of vaccines after being criticized for an overly cautious approach, but that the new guideline that was issued last Thursday “It probably generated controversy.”
One approach that might work better, Gandhi added, would be for local public health authorities to lift the mandates for the use of masks when vaccination rates reach a certain threshold and daily rates of coronavirus cases also reach a stipulated target.
Each public health department “will make its own decision and many will wait to lift the face covering orders for everyone at the same time, which is reasonable,” Gandhi added.
Last Thursday, the CDC changed its guidelines to suggest that fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most places, whether outdoors or indoors, with certain exceptions, such as on airplanes, buses, and trains. Under the new federal guidance, those who are partially or unvaccinated are still required to wear face masks in most indoor and outdoor public settings when around people they don’t live with.
National Nurses United, the largest union representing US registered nurses, criticized the CDC. “All our protection measures must continue in force, in addition to the vaccines. This pandemic is not over, ”said Deborah Burger, the president of the union, in a statement.
The CDC guidance, while influential, is a recommendation, and it is up to state and county governments to make the final decisions about what rules apply, or to allow businesses and companies to do so.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky faced serious questioning this weekend after the guidelines were updated. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the official clarified that the new guide seeks to help people understand that science proves that, broadly speaking, those fully vaccinated can safely remove their masks in most settings. . But he also acknowledged that CDC must now provide more guidance for settings where it is not easy to know who is vaccinated. “We must all work together, and the CDC is working hard now, to say what this means for schools, travel, camps and businesses,” he said.
“It is not necessary for everyone to start removing their masks. For 16 months we have been told to take care of ourselves and our family by putting on a face covering. Those behaviors will be really difficult to change and there is no order to remove them. What we are saying is: now, this is safe. Do it at your own pace, discuss it with your own family and your own businesses when necessary. “
Those with a compromised immune system, such as people undergoing chemotherapy or transplants, should consult with a doctor before stopping wearing the mask, because the COVID-19 vaccine may not work as well for these patients, Walensky cautioned.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the pandemic, acknowledged on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” that the criticism of the CDC could have some reason, and that the agency should have better prepared the public for it. this sudden change in orientation. Clarifying information is likely, he added, in the coming weeks.
“People will say, well, what about the workplace? What’s up with this and that? ”Fauci said. “I imagine that, in just a couple of weeks, there will be significant clarification of some of the really understandable and reasonable questions that people are asking.”
In California, the rules for wearing masks have not changed since the CDC relaxed its guidance. They generally reflect the above guideline and, as of May 3, the use of a face covering was required for everyone indoors outside their own home. There are exceptions, such as when you are in a workplace but outdoors and everyone indoors is vaccinated, or when only unvaccinated members of a household are present and everyone is at low risk of serious complications if contracted. COVID-19.
In comments made Thursday afternoon, Bárbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County director of public health, noted that she is not ready to immediately implement the new CDC approach, that local health departments were not notified about the new guideline ahead of time and that they asked for time to review recent guidelines. According to the official, it will be important to keep workers as safe as possible and said that California’s occupational safety standards that require the use of masks in the workplace are still in effect.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger wrote Newsom to ask the state to align with federal guidance. “While we still want to take care of our communities, I am encouraged by the new CDC guidance and believe that the state and county of Los Angeles should immediately align with the federal recommendations,” he wrote.
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