The White House on Monday dismissed complaints that its guidance on COVID-19-vaccinated people being able to ditch their masks has sown confusion across the country.
In the days since the Thursday afternoon announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully inoculated people no longer needed to cover up in most situations, no single approach has set in. Businesses, states, and localities have all gone their own ways.
Many conservatives hailed the CDC guidance, followed by a celebratory appearance by President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden, saying it showed the pandemic is over. But some liberals have taken to social media to insist they will continue covering up, either as a precaution amid continued worries about the coronavirus or, in some cases, to prove they are not Republicans.
MANY STATES AND CITIES ARE WARY OF LIFTING MASK MANDATES DESPITE CDC BLESSING
A day before making the guidance change, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told a congressional committee she would keep the public updated on policy changes when science dictated such communications.
“That’s exactly what she did,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday as the administration announced the United States, for the first time, will ship 20 million vaccine doses to other countries.
The change for fully vaccinated people is meant to send a signal that “vaccines work” and make clear those who have gotten all their doses are “unlikely to spread COVID.”
The administration’s current strategy is aimed at “working in a way we feel is going to rebuild trust with the American people,” Psaki said. But that means it “will take some time for various sectors to implement” revised protocols that might include dropping face coverings for vaccinated people.
“People may still choose to wear a mask,” she added. “We need to treat people with kindness.”
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Some Twitter users, many claiming to be fully inoculated, said over the weekend they were scolded by masked cohorts in grocery stores and other settings for walking around unmasked.
