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Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday signed an executive order banning mask warrants or COVID-19 vaccine requirements from government agencies and municipalities across the state.
Abbott issued the order Thursday, two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended warrants for indoor masks, regardless of vaccination status, in places with at least 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 for 100,000 people in the previous seven days.
“To further ensure that no government entity can require masks, the following requirement should continue to apply: no government entity, including a county, city, school district and public health authority, and no government official cannot require that anyone wear a face-cover or compel that other person to wear a cover, ”the decree said.
Abbott defended the move in a statement, saying “today’s executive order will bring clarity and consistency to the Lone Star State’s continued fight against COVID-19.”
The Republican governor went on to reiterate his argument that “the way forward rests on personal responsibility rather than government mandates.”
In making the recommendation, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said the data indicates that vaccinated people can pass the Delta variant to unvaccinated people more easily than other strains of COVID-19.
The variant, which first appeared in India in December, now accounts for around 83% of cases nationwide, according to the CDC.
However, critics questioned that claim, and former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Brett Giroir on Thursday suggested the CDC’s data was “weak.”
Dr. Walensky said that in rare circumstances a vaccinated person can transmit it. Well, if it’s 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, there is no reason for the mask recommendations. , but we don’t know because they won’t tell us, ”he told Fox News in an interview.
The chances of getting seriously ill or dying from a “breakthrough infection” of the Delta strain are also extremely low if a person is fully vaccinated.
Of 161 million U.S. residents who were fully vaccinated as of July 19, only 5,601 contracted a serious infection and were hospitalized – an infinitesimal 0.0035% of the population protected, according to the latest CDC figures available on post infections. -vaccination.
When it comes to deaths, the risk is even lower, with only 1,141 vaccinated people dying from a breakthrough COVID-19 infection – or 0.0007% of those who were fully injected.
But in defending the decision to reinstate mask warrants, Walensky said Thursday that while vaccines are very effective against serious illnesses, the new guidelines help protect the most vulnerable and children too young to get vaccinated.
The agency said in its new guidelines that it is also urging everyone in K-12 schools to wear a mask when they return to class, regardless of their immunization status.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also defended the CDC’s new directions, saying on Tuesday the agency was responding to “evolving information” about the pandemic.
“The reality is that we are dealing with a much different strain of this virus than we were even earlier in the spring of May when the masking advice was carried out,” Psaki said during his daily press briefing.
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