A little less than a week ago, the CDC changed their guidelines to indicate that fully vaccinated people could remove their masks indoors. Many states and retailers then lifted their mask requirements. We have about 37.5% of the population in the US fully vaccinated and 60% have received at least one dose, which is excellent, but that’s not enough for herd immunity. The CDC wanted to ensure people that it was safe for those who were vaccinated to no longer wear masks or socially distance and were hoping to encourage non-vaccinated people to get the shot. Only that’s not how it worked. People took it as blanket permission to remove masks even if they weren’t vaccinated. Those same people who haven’t gotten vaccinated often weren’t wearing masks in the first place though. In a virtual event with Axios, Dr. Fauci stated that people were “misinterpreting” the CDC’s new mask recommendations. Of course that happened. Anyone could have predicted that, except the people running the CDC I guess.
“I think people are misinterpreting, thinking that this is a removal of a mask mandate for everyone. It’s not,” Fauci told me. “It’s an assurance to those who are vaccinated that they can feel safe, be they outdoors or indoors.”
“It’s not their fault,” Fauci added. “People either read them quickly, or listen and hear half of it. They are feeling that we’re saying: ‘You don’t need the mask anymore.’ That’s not what the CDC said. They said: If you are vaccinated, you can feel safe — that you will not get infected either outdoors or indoors. It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks.”
Fauci said Americans will likely need a COVID vaccine booster: “I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so, after getting the primary [shot], because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong.”
He also said we should expect to keep wearing masks on airplanes for some time — but hopefully months, not years.
I disagree with Fauci, those people know better and it is their fault. As we talked about Tuesday, many doctors and epidemiologists have recommended that people continue wearing masks inside to protect those who are unvaccinated and vulnerable. It’s like the CDC made this decision in a vacuum that didn’t take human behavior into account at all. It’s only been four months since Biden was inaugurated and the last guy’s followers went maskless out of dumb loyalty. Those people are still out there, getting their news from Facebook and sneering at people who understand science.
I’m glad that we’re still required to wear masks on public transportation at least, and thankfully cases are down in every state. Overall the news is good in the US, but it feels premature to recommend we don’t wear masks anymore, which is practically what the CDC did. Vaccination rates are uneven and the more this spreads the more variants we’ll get.
Check out this lady with a Fauci mask! At first I thought this was Diane Keaton.
Embed from Getty Images
Photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty
‘I disagree with Fauci, those people know better and it is their fault.’
This, all day and twice on Sunday.
Exactly, as the National Nurses Union head said, this will hurt frontline and essential workers and vulnerable communities of color the most… as a frontline worker myself, I truly resent the CDC for releasing such a hasty and badly thought-out statement. Yes, I’m fully vaccinated, but it’s only a 95% efficacy in clinical trials and less than that in the real world. We are not yet close to the vaccination numbers we need to hit for our society to begin feeling safe. This whole pandemic has been a nightmare from start to finish. Even my Democratic Governor is telling people we will use the honor system for masks. People don’t like to share health info, many won’t be honorable about this, and it will hinder our fight against the virus. Oh I could go on.
And the timing….just before our Memorial Day weekend, and upcoming 4th of July: beginning the summer season, and two BIG blowout holidays where beach towns are crowded, tourists from EVERYWHERE come pouring in… this is just a recipe for disaster/Covid spikes. There is AMPLE opportunity for mutation/spread with the summer season and more people mingling from everywhere.
And yes, those of us that got the vax, we’re more “protected”, but not invulnerable. We can still get sick/develop long hauler symptoms/organ damage…. we’re not out of the woods yet, not until MANY more are vaxxed, and that includes the MAGAts and kids who aren’t allowed to get it yet.
Clinical efficacy is a population measure, not a measure of personal protection.
95% efficacy means that there is a 95% reduction in cases in the vaccinated population, not that an individual has a 5% chance of contracting the disease. For example, if there were currently 15 cases per 100,000 and the population were fully vaccinated, at 95% efficiency the case count would drop from 15 to 1 per 100,000.
The breakthrough case rate is 0.01%.
Of course people misinterpreted it. On purpose. I just am flabbergasted that the CDC so hugely misread the room.
I’m fully vaccinated, but still wearing my mask when I’m indoors in public spaces. I will do this until I feel my little kids are safe enough to not have to wear masks. Partly in solidarity – if they have to wear them, so will I. And partly in hopes that me showing my care for those who are children and immunocompromised will encourage others who aren’t vaccinated (by choice) to continue to wear masks. It’s probably futile but I’m just not ready to trust the general population.
Yeah and the same people who wouldn’t listen to the CDC for the last year about masks are now using this latest statement to defend themselves and tell everyone to take off their masks, even if they never wore one before. I hate it.
ETA: I just got an email from my salon saying that in following with cdc guidelines masks are now optional but they would prefer you to wear one if you are not fully vaccinated WTAF, prefer? My county is sitting at 60% of the total population and 52% of the eligible population not vaccinated and we’ve had eligibility for 16+ for almost two months now. I literally just went to get my haircut two weeks after my second dose for the first time since last February. Guess I’m going to have to find a new salon or go another year.
People hear what they want to hear. When I first heard it on the news it was obvious it would be a disaster. The people that don’t want to vaccinate also don’t want to wear masks. My family and many people I know will continue to mask as some people we know don’t want to vaccinate and don’t like wearing masks. Some of them are family. It’s exhausting. And some of our family got Covid and a few needed hospitalization. CDC was stupid.
This is exactly why I’m so upset about the CDCs update. Like, of course this was going to give everyone a free for all to remove masks whether they’re vaccinated or not. How are they so stupid?
They’ve been stupid from the beginning when they told us under no circumstances did we need to wear masks. Luckily I have worn some type of mask from the very beginning despite the terrible advice from WHO and CDC. Useless morons.
I don’t care, I’m wearing my mask until I feel confident its safe. From what I’ve seen most sane people feel that way too. President Biden was here in the Detroit area the other day and he was wearing a mask as were most of the people around him while they were indoors. And we know he’s fully vaccinated.
The CDC seems compromised, imo. Their announcement will inevitably lead to more fighting. At the very least, there should be a national vax card to show, but I’m certain they’d scream “big brother” while having a SS card and DL in their wallet. It’s looking like the pandemic will drag on thru all of 2021….sigh
I got my Johnson and Johnson shot yesterday. So far, so good. I said this before in another post in a prior week, but getting the shot doesn’t necessarily protect you from getting COVID; it protects you from getting a severe case. One of our local school districts had a vaccination drive and vaccinated all teachers, staff and admin who wanted the shots in Feb/March. One of my girlfriends, who is the Principal, now had several teachers and staff members, who had been vaccinated, out with COVID. They are all mild cases, thank goodness, but they still have it. We still have to be vigilant about not passing on the virus, particularly to those who are especially vulnerable or unable to be vaccinated.
The JJ has a efficacy rate of 67-86% and doesn’t protect against variants.
I’d look into getting one of the mrna ones
You Covid vaccination absolutely DOES protect you from contracting the disease. Current data show that breakthrough cases occur in 0.01% of all fully-vaccinated people.
All of the vaccines approved for use in the US are effective against the Covid variants.
Please stop propagating vaccine disinformation.
@kaah thank you for this.
Also Re J&J shot there are data showing the longer they follow the trial participants, the higher the protective effect increases. It is a higher percentage effective at 56 days after vs 28 days after, for instance. This is not surprising given the way immunity develops, and that it is a one dose not two dose so the time points measured in the respective clinical trials differed for Pfizer/Moderna vs J&J. Bottom line is that those slagging off J&J are sometimes missing the full picture.
Also making blanket statements that it doesn’t protect against variants is factually wrong.
@Tourmaline 👏🏽
Here’s what I’m seeing in my neck of the woods: vaccinated people are still wearing masks, it’s the non-vaccinated that are taking them off ( if they ever even wore them in the first place). This is not going to end well.
Natural selection will kick in, thank you Darwin.
Unfortunately people who can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons are impacted.
And all children! It’s very frustrating that the medical establishment has behaved as if children’s infections are no big deal, pushing off the importance of the vaccine for kids.
This was a grossly premature decision to make by the CDC and a craven move to force people “back to normal” after surviving an airborne pandemic.
Are they even confident about the efficacy of these vaccines? As in Will we have to get boosters? What about other strains?
I am quite frankly tired of Dr Fauci talking in vagueries and confusing people. I am going to keep wearing my mask until thousands of people stop dying every day from this virus.
Covid deaths in the US have been under 1,000/day for weeks now.
I can’t help but think the CDC (and all our government agencies) is getting a LOT of pressure and lobbying from big business to reopen spaces faster than is genuinely advisable. And this is one result, because they are feeling the pressure.
As long as the CDC takes money from outside grants, donations, etc, they will be vulnerable to outside pressures that won’t necessarily align with public health.
I live in a pretty socially conscious city (DC) where my gym dropped its mask requirement for fully vaccinated members. Out of about 30 people in the gym yesterday, the *only* ones not wearing masks were me, another member (a man in his 60s) and one of the staff. So there is hope, people. We are not entirely a nation of irrational conspiracy lunatics unable to parse a simple message.
Really??? They didn’t know what would happen?Wow. I live in Brooklyn and everyone I see is still masking because…
I think crowded I door spaces should require proof of vaccine. A bar code on your phone that can be scanned.
Here (I’m in CA), you DO get a scan code that is sent to your phone, that you can keep in your digital wallet, that shows you are vaxxed, and the date and type of vaccine you got. I also took a pic of the card they filled out/gave to me when I got my shot at Dodger Stadium, and kept that in my phone as well (before we got the digital).
I think you should have to show these to get into ANY indoor establishment (concerts, theaters, stores, restaurants…). If you don’t have one, and you *won’t wear/keep on* a mask to get in, well, try the MAGAt one down the road. Let them kill off each other. I’m done with “compassion” for these idiots.
I went into my first bar last Monday because they turned away anyone without proof of vaccination- they are getting an amazing amount of support too because of their rules. It was weird, but it felt good to do something that I’ve missed in the last year. Once they drop the six feet rule and I can start eavesdropping on random conversations again, I’ll be thrilled.
That sounds AWESOME CT!! Wish EVERY business had the cajones to do this!!
There were a lot of places just looking for an excuse to lift their mask mandates, so I’m not surprised. A lot of people interpreted the CDC’s guidance the way they wanted to.
Honestly, and I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, I don’t think the US will ever reach herd immunity. Four days ago, we were sitting at not quite 50% of eligible people fully vaccinated. That’s not enough, and the numbers have been slowing down for awhile.
I’m fully vaccinated and wear my mask. I don’t know what else to do. I can’t control other people, and clearly, neither can our government. Politicizing this pandemic meant we were never going to get full herd immunity. The Republicans have a lot to answer for, not that they ever will, I’m sure.
Sigmund, I keep wondering if there will be an increase in cases this Fall. Summer will help keep these cases lower, but once everyone goes back in doors I expect things to change. The people I talk with have all stated that they will continue to wear their masks in public places. We’re used to it and we’ll let the anti-vaxxers do what they’re going to do. We also like the fact that it helps prevent colds and flu, too. I am puzzled that the Republicans don’t have more concern for their constituency.
I got an email from a Pilates studios in nyc that I go to and they said that in order to go maskless, you must show them proof of vaccination before each class. Meanwhile, here in Orange County, masks have been optional since before the CDC’s announcement.
It seems your safety as far as masking goes, is only as safe as the political culture you live in. This is totally my opinion, but it seems if you live in a conservative area, good luck to you. It’s the liberals that are still masking up from what I’ve seen, and thank goodness
The CDC is a government agency under Health and Human Services. The Director is appointed by the President and can be fired at any time. Trump’s not the first president to put political pressure on the CDC, it was just visible this time because we’ve never had anything so visible as this pandemic. I’ve met Dr. Walensky a few times and she’s smart, meticulous and extremely cautious. It’s really hard for me to believe that she would blindside the White House, which has its own COVID response team that coordinates with the CDC, and with a totally unclear plan. Something political is going on between the WH and the CDC.
Well, this whole thing has been a grand experiment. My state will be lifting all emergency measures on the 29th. By then we should be at 60% of all adults over 18 fully vaccinated. We’ll see what happens. I’ll still wear my mask in crowded places.
I’m just scared about all of it.
As we all should be. The misinformation is very disheartening and people will take advantage of it if they can.
Our state school board decided that masks are now optional for all students, even the ones too young to have been vaccinated. It’s ridiculous. And you are SPOT ON, the people who won’t get vaccinated because DNA rewritten / Bill Gates tracking devices / mark of the beast / evil democrats / vaccines are killers are the exact same people who refused to wear masks in the first place.
Well you know what? The CDC knew this would happen, because most places aren’t exactly asking for vaccination cards (which are flimsy pieces of paper that are by no means “official”) at the door. What did they expect to happen? They’ve now opened Pandora’s Box and there’s no going back, even if cases spike again. They blew that chance. It makes me so angry that they’ve now made so many places unsafe again, just as thing were starting to get better. We know for sure that we’ll need boosters — why not wait to make this announcement until we’re able to get them?
This reopening/take your mask off/everybody party sentiment in the US is causing me more anxiety than the start of the pandemic. Work is now starting to expect people to travel again and such and I’m really struggling with my mental health. I know I’m on the very cautious side, but every choice I’ve made has been based on science and logic, not public opinion. But the pressure is getting to be a lot, from everyone.
Fully vaxxed here, went to Starbucks, and surprisingly everyone inside was wearing a mask. I will wear a mask for the protection of others and in solidarity with those who still mask up because they have to deal with the public and the anti vaxxers lying about their vax status. AND because it’s too soon to drop masks.
Totally agree it is to soon to drop mask and i have encountered to many who lie about their vax status.
Same here paranormalgirl. And to be honest, with all this misinformation I am way too scared to remove my mask. I only remove with my immediate family and my parents who are vaxxed. I know of people who died from this and I will continue to be prudent and not careless.
Please remember that if you are a healthy, fully-vaccinated adult you are at extremely low risk of contracting Covid-19 and even lower risk of transmitting it to others. Continuing to wear a mask does nothing to change either of those probabilities. Vaccines work.
That said, continuing to wear a mask may well help keep up the social pressure on vaccine-avoiders to do the same. It is also a kindness to beleaguered frontline workers who have now been asked to become the ‘vaccination police’. If you have children who are too young to be vaccinated, continuing to wear a mask yourself models the behavior you want them to display, hopefully making it easier for them to keep their own masks on.
@kaah, I have had two family members test positive very recently and they are fully vaccinated and healthy. The odds are more than we think about being able to catch COVID while being healthy and fully vaccinated. Also, EVERY medical professional, when they were told about the incident, said that the vaccine is doing its job: mild symptoms and out of the hospital. That is all I need to hear.
I also tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to this type of situation.
The leaders at the CDC are probably completely surrounded by intelligent, science believing, individuals. They need to spend a few days in Red counties before making these announcements.
This new guideline sent me backwards actually. I hate the K95 masks and how they look, and because I’m in NY, I have been using those maskc black ones, which are nicer looking. I was protected because everyone was masked. My local grocery stores did not eff around with this, and very early on they hired security at the front door and you did not enter without your mask fully covering your face, and you did not pull it down once in. It was a real f around and find out policy. They stuck to it.
Now, with this, I’m going back to my K95’s. I need the extra protection. I’m so pissed.
I was very angered by this decision. It basically gave permission and validation to those not getting vaccinated to remove their masks.
My daughter works at a grocery store; she now is exposed readily to these people. It’s so wrong!
The CDC really, really had their heads up their non-masked asses on this.
I live in South Mississippi and people have been fighting it even when the virus was at its worst. I can go out now and count the people on one hand that have masks on. Also sad but alot of the younger people never stopped having parties and going out.
I too wished that the CDC would have been on one page. I wish President Biden would have replaced Fauci (I actually like him) just to have a fresh start.
I think in part the CDC released the new maskless mandate for vaccinated people due to pressure from the Biden administration. Under Biden, the vaccination campaign was sped up. Under Trump, I doubt I would have gotten a vaccine until the summer as I am 33 with no comorbidities. Instead I was able to get mine beginning of March thanks to my new job. Biden announced he wanted people to be able to enjoy a maskless July 4th, that’s not far away. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks how things go.
I have been pro-CDC this whole time, but this announcement made me extremely disappointed. They made the announcement assuming that a large chunk of the public were not willfully ignorant (at best) or just conspiracy theorist a-holes (at worst). I live in a Trump-supporting, rural area where we were in the minority wearing masks in the first place and now I’ve got unvaccinated 9 & 7 year olds who have lost that last little bit of protection they had from idiots. I feel like we have to move backwards in our inching towards normalcy because of this announcement. Stores and other places in my area have now removed their mask mandates because of this CDC announcement. I just hope kids can be vaccinated by summer’s end. Then let those unvaccinated conspiracy theorists fend for themselves. Though that doesn’t help the people who are immune-compromised and still won’t be able to get a vaccine. If you can’t tell, I’m angry about this, and about being surrounded by conspiracy theorists, and that this was even politicized in the first place by that giant orange stain that was in the White House.
As a parent with kids too young for vaccination I agree.
I was disappointed to see the head of FDA Peter Marks stated this week that the under 12 vax approval will be late fall at the earliest. There is going to be massive pressure in many states next school year to remove all protective measures so the timing of the vaccine rollout for under 12 s is going to be rough.
I’m thankful that we at least live in a blue state (one large metro area and the rest of the state all rural). So even though I’m surrounded by ignorance all around us, I’m certain the governor here will still require masks for school kids in the fall.
I hate, HATE, the thought of healthcare workers everywhere living with guilt they haven’t done enough while asshole Americans have turned this pandemic into a political and ridiculously ignorant festival and the organizations, (cough) CDC (cough), who ended up succumbing to pressures from these idiots. We’re living in a tragically stupid bubble where imbeciles are making all the decisions and controlling all the narratives. The educated are being chastised for being educated. I’m losing my fucking mind.
Well we’re going to spike again now. And with the 4th wave going across Europe. And Japan, China , India and other Asian countries out of control right now, there’s our 5th wave.
I’m really f#*ing thankful my family is fully vaccinated, but the hospitals getting overwhelmed effects everyone.
Plus all the variants that will happen from the mass replicating.
I was feeling kinda hopeful until the CDC did this
I work in the customer service field and this whole CDC announcement has been a nightmare for myself and my co-workers. People become so nasty when I tell them that my employer still requires masks. We went through two boxes of disposable ones yesterday because no one was coming in with one!
The CDC didn’t make the decision in a vacuum because every decision that they made this year was followed by a rant from Fox News and it’s hosts, Jim Jordan, and Rand Paul. I thought that once Redfield was removed from the CDC that they would do the right thing and regain their credibility; but it seems that somehow Dr Redfield is still indirectly controlling the decisions that are coming out of the CDC.
The CDC made the decision about masks and they didn’t even bother to think about how it would be “misinterpreted” by the press and republicans who have protested any attempt to control the outbreaks or abused by the governors of Florida, Texas, and Iowa who are passing bills that ban mask mandates in schools(Iowa just passed the bill overnight), mask mandates in Texas, and vaccine passports in Florida(businesses and Gov agencies can’t ask people for proof of vaccination). They didn’t take into consideration the variants(when MI was hit with the European variant, Walensky refused to give them vaccines because she said that she didn’t want them to vaccinate their way out of it). They misrepresented Covid numbers, claiming that numbers are down, when in reality the numbers are down because they have significantly reduced testing. Nothing is being done about Florida and Texas who are purposely underreporting cases and deaths and then using these false numbers to pass laws against mask mandates. They aren’t properly addressing the issue of people getting Covid while vaccinated(shouldn’t they be concerned that these cases are due to variants not covered by the vaccine). Japan and India are struggling with surges.
“They aren’t properly addressing the issue of people getting Covid while vaccinated(shouldn’t they be concerned that these cases are due to variants not covered by the vaccine).” This is what really gets me. I know breakthrough cases are very rare, but shouldn’t there be a concern about the fact that the vaccine was developed without some of these new variants in mind and we already know we need boosters for better protection?
It really drives me crazy that scientists/doctors are like “guys, the amount of breakthrough cases is negligible, you need to stop worrying so much.” The USA hasn’t been tracking COVID strains like other countries have, so I don’t really want to hear it, and I don’t want to be made to feel crazy for still being very concerned. This feels like forced normalization of death and extreme illness and I’m so unsettled by it.
Now here I am in the UK all jealous of your CDC. Our instructions are to “be sensible”. What? I would love some straightforward guidance. Some facts.
Like, what percentage of the population needs to be fully vaxed before we can remove masks indoors? I think we are between 25-30% here. But many of us have the Astra Zeneca (Oxford) vaccine which has a lower efficacy. I believe 79% when fully vaxed. Does that mean a greater percentage of the population needs to be fully vaxed than in the US? Or, does it not work like that?
Thanks for the data above, @kaah and @tourmaline.
Great news! Astra Zeneca just increased their estimated efficacy to 90%. Just heard it on the BBC.
Speaking very generally, the lower the efficacy rate of a vaccine, the higher the percentage of a population you need to vaccinate to reduce transmission. Given AZ’s lower efficacy the expectation would be that a larger percentage of Brits will need to be fully vaxxed in order to remove all mask restrictions. Scientists disagree about precisely what that number would need to be, perhaps something over 85%.
I believe the UK is studying the efficacy of combined vaccination, using one dose of AZ and a second dose of an mRNA vaccine in hopes of achieving greater protection fairly quickly.
Hey, please don’t come for me because I have had to block out all covid news due to it making me insanity paranoid and scared. I am out of the loop. I wear a mask. I’m not vaccinated yet because I don’t think my health condition will allow(allergies)…but is this covid shot like the flu shot that we will just have to continue to get every year? Isn’t this covid-19 just going to evolve and the strains will mutate and then the current vaccine won’t work? So is the 24/7 mask and a few shots a year to those willing just out new normal, indefinitely? I still do grocery pick up and contactless ordering but I am ready for pre-pandemic life. My poor kids, and everyone’s kids, have been so wonderful at taking the new terms of life yet all these adult refuse?? Frustrating on a while new level!
Allergies, per se, do not make you ineligible for vaccination. The allergy screening question I am familiar with, used by the VA, is, “Have you ever had an immediate anaphylactic reaction to any vaccine or injectable medication?”
If you are interested in getting vaccinated, please reach out to your doctor or health care professional to see if it is safe for you to be vaccinated. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Fauci doesn’t want to alienate people in the hope that they WILL get vaccinated. I get that. He’s soft-pedaling. I read in the New York Times there are four categories of people who aren’t vaccinated: 1) the wait and see crowd 2) underserved people who don’t have the time/access to get the shot. 3) people who don’t like to be told by the government what to do 4) fanatics who don’t believe in COVID or vaccines (Maggots). (This is from my memory. Go to the NYT for the article). Only group 4 will never be vaccinated. There’s hope for other groups and I think Fauci is speaking to those other groups. I love the man.
I think the CDC has given up as have I. I live in Florida and hardly anyone was wearing masks anymore before this announcement. I have gotten vaccinated but know people who are scared to get it. Can’t fix stupid and I give u trying to fix it.
I have been fully vaccinated and no longer wear a mask unless at work. I respect people who wear masks but they are not for me. BTW I am a 64 year old woman with no pre existing conditions
We all hate wearing them, but it’s about looking out for others – not just for yourself.
So in the course of my work, I know several people who work closely with a number of CDC people, and what I heard the day after this was announced is that a lot of people at the CDC were PISSED because Dr. Walensky’s office didn’t tell the CDC staff before they announced these guideline changes. My guess is if they had, they would have gotten a lot of pushback internally.
Wow!
After what the CDC did under dump’s administration I don’t trust them at all. They lost their credibility while bowing to the pressures of a monster who was more worried about an election than people’s lives.
My state is holding back until mid June and I think it’s the only state in a wait and see mode. The other 49 seem to be in a rush into the future without a mask mode.
It’s pretty easy to pick out who is vaccinated and who is not lately. Those still wearing a mask are vaccinated and care about the safety and well being of others. Those who are not, are typical selfish a-hole Americans. Ugh. I am vaccinated and I plan on wearing my mask in public indoor places for the foreseeable future.