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The recommendation would reverse guidance by the agency in May saying that vaccinated individuals did not have to wear masks indoors or out because of protection afforded by vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to recommend on Tuesday that vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors in certain circumstances, citing the highly transmissible delta variant.
The recommendation, to be unveiled at a 3 p.m. news briefing, would alter the agency’s May 13 guidance saying that vaccinated individuals did not have to wear masks indoors or out because of the protection afforded by vaccines. At the time, cases were dropping sharply and the delta variant, which is 1,000 times more transmissible than earlier versions of the virus, had not gained significant traction in the United States.
President Biden and CDC director Rochelle Walensky have repeatedly said there is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” because unvaccinated people make up the vast majority of patients hospitalized with the disease. But the delta variant has been a game-changer for the United States, sending cases surging throughout the country, and there is concern that although vaccinated people are unlikely to become severely ill, they may still be able to become infected and spread the virus. Continue reading.