MESSAGE
| DATE | 2021-05-13 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Twelve Months for the CDC to get to the obvious
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wsj.com
Fully Vaccinated People Can Stop Wearing Face Masks and End Physical
Distancing in Most Settings, CDC Says
Brianna Abbott
10-13 minutes
Fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear a mask or physically distance
during outdoor or indoor activities, large or small, federal health
officials said, the broadest easing of pandemic recommendations so far.
The fully vaccinated should continue to wear a mask while traveling by
plane, bus or train, and the guidance doesn’t apply to certain places
such as hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The fully protected can, however, resume doing many of the things they
had to give up because of the coronavirus pandemic, CDC Director
Rochelle Walensky said.
“We have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense
of normalcy,” Dr. Walensky said. “That moment has come for those who are
fully vaccinated.”
The CDC considers people fully vaccinated either two weeks after
receiving their second dose of an mRNA vaccine, such as the one from
Pfizer Inc. PFE 1.03% and partner BioNTech SE BNTX -2.87% or Moderna
Inc., MRNA -1.84% or two weeks after getting the single-shot vaccine
from Johnson & Johnson.
Surgeon General: Herd Immunity 'Is Not a Switch You Flip On and Off'
0:00 / 2:20
1:43
Surgeon General: Herd Immunity 'Is Not a Switch You Flip On and Off'
Surgeon General: Herd Immunity 'Is Not a Switch You Flip On and Off'
Vivek Murthy, speaking at The Future of Everything Festival, says that
‘we’re moving in the right direction’ on key metrics of vaccination and
infection rates.
The agency said it was making the revisions based on the latest science
indicating that being fully vaccinated cuts the risk of getting infected
and spreading the virus to others, in addition to preventing severe
disease and death.
One recent study among healthcare workers in Israel estimated that the
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 97% effective against symptomatic infection
and 86% effective against asymptomatic infection.
The recent clearance of the Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation for adolescents
12 to 15 years old, the wider availability of vaccines, and current case
counts also informed the decision, Dr. Walensky said.
Unvaccinated people remain at risk, Dr. Walensky said, and should
continue to wear masks and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The agency’s update further relaxes guidelines for vaccinated people as
Covid-19 cases in the U.S. continue to drop. It comes as the CDC faces
criticism from some public-health experts as being too cautious in
easing pandemic precautions.
The new recommendations would further move the U.S. away from the
lockdown measures and strict precautions that marked earlier stages of
the pandemic and toward a fuller reopening. Many states have been easing
requirements for face-mask-wearing and other measures, while people have
started returning to restaurants and other public venues.
Shortly after the CDC announcement, the White House sent an email to
staff telling them that masks were no longer required on campus for
those who have been fully vaccinated, a White House official said.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris came out to the White
House Rose Garden without wearing masks, and neither put one on again
after their remarks. Mr. Biden said the revisions marked a milestone,
but cautioned there was still more work needed to finish off the pandemic.
“Look, we’ve gotten this far,” Mr. Biden said. “Please protect yourself
until you get to the finish line. Because as great as this announcement
is today, we don’t want to let up.”
Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) whipped off
their masks and yelled “Freedom” after the news broke.
“It really struck me that I didn’t have to be wearing my mask, so I
literally took it off and threw it up into the air,” Ms. Collins said
later. “There was this sense of freedom and relief that I think reflects
something deeper. I think that our elation reflects what a hard year it
has been for our country, and this was just a symbol of that.”
On the Senate floor, C-Span cameras captured Ms. Ernst pointing at her
bare face and now-visible grin.
“Free at last,” declared Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.,
Ky.), an assiduous mask-wearer throughout the pandemic, as he left the
Hill, now maskless.
The relaxation of recommendations was welcomed by scientists who said
the CDC could have moved more quickly updating its guidance based on the
available data, as well as people who had grown tired of the agency’s
strict recommendations.
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Yet the move could complicate public-health efforts to curb the pandemic
and stay ahead of variants given that a sizable percentage of Americans
aren’t fully vaccinated. One challenge: encouraging people who aren’t
fully protected to follow the precautions.
“To a large degree, it goes to an honor system,” said Vivek Cherian, an
internal-medicine physician affiliated with the University of Maryland
Medical System.
More than 35% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to
CDC data, and over 46% of the population has received at least one dose.
In Mississippi, which has 25% of its residents fully vaccinated, the
lowest rate in the country, health officials were quick to warn people
to continue to wear masks, despite the guidance.
“It still makes sense in my perspective in crowded indoor circumstances
for everyone to wear masks,” said Thomas Dobbs, state health officer for
Mississippi. “Mostly because you don’t know who’s not vaccinated. And
we’re still at risk. I’m personally not comfortable doing it, and I
think it still makes sense for Mississippi indoors, in crowded
circumstances especially.”
When asked about settings where it is unclear whether or not people were
vaccinated, Dr. Walensky said, “If you are fully vaccinated, you are
protected. It is the people who are not fully vaccinated in those
settings who might not be wearing a mask who are not protected.”
Some businesses might not adopt the recommendations quickly, as a large
number of people aren’t fully vaccinated, local mask mandates might vary
and companies want to protect their workers. Kroger Co. , the nation’s
biggest supermarket chain, said it would continue to require people to
wear masks and encourage social distancing. The company said it is
asking for feedback from employees as it reviews safety practices and
the latest CDC guidance.
Still, the relaxed mandate might allow bigger crowds to form. Walt
Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Chapek said he expects to see “an
immediate increase” in the number of people allowed inside Disney’s
domestic theme parks. “Today’s guidance,” he said, “is very big news for
us, particularly if anyone has been in Florida in the middle of summer
with a mask on.”
Jeep maker Stellantis NV said it would continue to mandate the use of
masks at its facilities “for the foreseeable future as they have been
proven to protect our employees.”
Sanderson Farms Inc., a Mississippi-based company that processes more
than 13 million chickens each week in plants from North Carolina to
Texas, doesn’t plan to relax requirements for masks, face shields,
temperature checks and social distancing among its roughly 17,000 employees.
Chief Financial Officer Mike Cockrell said Sanderson has decided its
safety protocols based on recommendations from the CDC as well as its
own medical staff and outside health professionals. “Throughout the
pandemic, our practice has been to go with the most conservative voice
in the room,” Mr. Cockrell said.
The CDC also gave some caveats. The recommendations don’t apply, the
agency said, to healthcare settings including doctor’s offices; while
traveling on planes, trains and buses and in transportation hubs such as
airports and train stations; correctional facilities and homeless
shelters. People who are immune compromised should speak to their
doctors to help determine whether to keep masking, Dr. Walensky said.
The agency also said the fully vaccinated should wear masks when
required by federal and local officials and by individual businesses and
workplaces.
“There’s what the science says, there’s what logistics we have, and
there’s what people feel comfortable doing,” said Zoë McLaren, an
associate professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County. “Those are three very different things, and
the CDC is trying to balance all of those things.”
Those who develop symptoms, even when vaccinated, should put on a mask
and get tested right away, Dr. Walensky said.
In April, the CDC had relaxed its mask guidance for fully vaccinated
individuals, saying that inoculated people didn’t need to wear masks
outside while alone or in small groups.
The CDC said it would continue to update its guidance as more evidence
emerges and more people get vaccinated.
The guidance might also have to change again if the pandemic worsens in
the U.S., Dr. Walensky said.
Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been dropping in the
U.S. in recent weeks. The seven-day moving average of cases fell to
36,800 as of May 11, down 23% from the prior week’s average, Dr.
Walensky said.
—Julie Wernau, Ken Thomas, Tarini Parti and Lindsay Wise contributed to
this article.
Covid-19 Vaccines
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