Top Biden health officials start discussing mask recommendations as variants increase cases

by



[ad_1]

Officials questioned whether the guidelines should be reconsidered after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abandoned their mandate to mask people vaccinated earlier this year. Discussions focus on the masking messages offered by the White House and the guidance the CDC is expected to issue, the sources say. White House officials have repeatedly stated that it would be up to the CDC whether or not to change the official guidelines.

“At the White House, we follow the advice and guidance of medical and health experts. Public health advice is set by the CDC, and they continue to recommend that fully vaccinated people not wear masks. If you are not vaccinated, you should wear a mask, ”a White House official told CNN.

Administration officials insist science will guide the process, fully aware that any official or unofficial change in mask rules would be a psychological blow to a country well into its second year of pandemic-related restrictions . When President Joe Biden appeared in the Rose Garden in May to announce the CDC’s announcement that masks were no longer needed for vaccinated Americans, he said it was “a big day in America”; new guidelines to mask would inevitably underline the difficult situation the nation is currently facing.
But now that the Delta variant accounts for more than 80% of cases in the United States, authorities have questioned whether vaccinated people should start wearing masks indoors again.

Those discussions took on new urgency this week after the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all people over 2 wear masks when they return to school. A source familiar with the conversations said the administration is also considering recommendations that further emphasize that Americans should follow local guidelines when it comes to wearing a mask indoors or for children inside. ‘school.

The Washington Post first reported on the new face mask discussions.

White House Biden was careful not to override the country’s major health agencies, a break from the previous administration, and an official insisted that any updated guidance should come from the CDC itself. According to a source close to internal discussions, the health agency is internally reconsidering its position on mask orders. A third person familiar with the ongoing talks said she was not yet far enough along to make a decision on the masks, but was considering how best to proceed.

“At this time, we have no plans to change our masking guidelines,” CDC spokesman Jason McDonald told CNN.

Another source in communication with the White House said officials they spoke to showed little appetite for any sort of federal mask mandate, expressing reluctance to wade through what has now become a flashpoint. Politics.

Regarding the AAP decision, Dr Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser and the nation’s foremost infectious disease expert, said he believed the recommendation was made as “one more step of caution”, adding that the CDC was carefully reviewing the AAP recommendations and “I hope we now have some consistency of recommendations.”

In the meantime, the White House continues to hold calls with governors led by Jeff Zients, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, and a rotation of other administration officials, multiple state sources said. The sessions are informative and data-driven, rather than offering advice or guidance, the sources said.

State and local health officials who spoke to CNN were divided as to whether they wanted additional mandates or recommendations from the federal government. A Republican state official said his state was unlikely to follow new masking guidelines, regardless of the increase in cases.

The CDC has also been in regular contact with state officials about potential orders for masks and other mitigation measures.

“The CDC has spent a lot of time trying to solve the masking problem and figuring out what to do next, and whether or not to reconsider things,” Dr Marcus Plescia, Chief Medical Officer of the Association of State and territory health officials said. “They really have a hard time with this.”

Some local health officials are hoping for updated federal guidelines as cases continue to rise to help with mitigation.

“What we are seeing is some resistance from local health services to step up to CDC guidelines, but they may have to,” said Lori Freeman, executive director of the National Association of county and city health officials, noting that Los Angeles County had just taken the step of implementing a mask warrant.

“However, making these decisions community by community when the country as a whole seems to have increasing cases can be problematic with what we’ve been through with the politicization of public order.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect reference to the pediatric group which recommended that all people over 2 wear masks when they returned to school. It’s the American Academy of Pediatrics.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link