It's official: Public health experts have way more faith in the American people than I do. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually built new guidelines released on Thursday that lean heavily on a kind of honor system in which people who haven’t been vaccinated for COVID-19 should continue wearing masks both inside and outside. Those who are fully vaccinated can enjoy a new mask-free reality without requirements to socially distance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains.
Problem is, that whole trust issue I laid out actually stems from repeated instances of anti-maskers putting their own wants above public health needs. And now, according to the latest advice from experts, I’m supposed to attach my children’s health to the hope that an American people with an incredibly shoddy track record on pretty much all fronts do the right thing. Yeah, not gonna happen. It’s worth noting, however, that I’m privileged enough to simply not have to take my children to the grocery store, but what about those who aren’t?
YouTube Video
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s "State of the Union" that children who have not been vaccinated—and no child under 12-years-old can be—should continue to wear masks in public and socially distance. She said the hope is that “by the end of this year” vaccines will be available to children in younger age ranges. “We recognize the challenge of parents who can’t leave their kids at home,” Walensky said. “(They) should be masked in those settings and to the best of their ability to keep a distance. The recommendations for those settings have not changed.”
Neither has guidance for schools through the end of the current academic year, but that may not be the case for summer camps, Walensky said. "So yes, we do have to rapidly update our camp guidance and we're working on that right now," she said.
When asked if she trusts if people who aren't vaccinated will keep their masks on, Walensky said: “You know, I think that people who were not inclined to wear a mask were not inclined to wear a mask before Thursday.”
Bash responded: “But some of them were mandated to do so, and those mandates are lifting in part because of your new guidelines.”
Walensky said: ”Yes and what we’re really asking in those settings is to say, in terms of the honor system, people have to be honest with themselves. You’re protected if you’re vaccinated. You’re not if you’re not vaccinated.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that real world effectiveness of the vaccines is even better than in clinical trials at well over 90% protection against the coronavirus. “Number two, a number of papers have come out in the past couple of weeks showing that the vaccine protects even against the variants that are circulating,” Fauci said. “And thirdly, we're seeing that it is very unlikely that a vaccinated person, even if there's a breakthrough infection, would transmit it to someone else.”
YouTube Video
Read more from Fauci’s interview transcribed by CBS News:
Not everyone in the medical community is thrilled about the new guidance.
Dr. Tara Smith, an infectious disease epidemiologist, tweeted in a thread on Sunday that she's "frustrated" about the guidance and the messaging used to defend it. "'Anyone who wanted a vaccine had plenty of time to get it.' This is patently false," she said. "One, the vaccine just became available for the 12-15 year age group. Why not wait another month until many in this group were able to get both shots and develop protection?”
She added: “Two, even those in the 16+ age group who got the vaccines as soon as they were eligible are wrapping up their 2nd dose in some states, because eligibility for them just opened at some point in April. Even if they jumped in on first day eligible, some are not yet fully immune.”
Smith concluded: “I 100% agree that the science shows that vaccinated individuals are very safe. But many still *want* to be vaccinated & can't be or haven't been yet for many reasons. They're now at risk. It's an own goal to not have worked in this area first before changing the guidelines.”
National Nurses United, the country's largest nurses union, released a statement on Friday condemning the new guidance. “This newest CDC guidance is not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of patients, nurses, and other frontline workers across the country,” National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said. “Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century.”
COVID-19 related deaths are still being reported, with 780 people having died from the virus the day the new guidelines were released, the union said. “If the CDC had fully recognized the science on how this deadly virus is transmitted, this new guidance would never have been issued,” Jean Ross, president of the union said.
RELATED: Republicans spend time attacking wearing face masks. Tough. I'll wear whatever the hell I want
RELATED: Essential workers worried about CDC's honor-system mask guidance, this week in the war on workers
Problem is, that whole trust issue I laid out actually stems from repeated instances of anti-maskers putting their own wants above public health needs. And now, according to the latest advice from experts, I’m supposed to attach my children’s health to the hope that an American people with an incredibly shoddy track record on pretty much all fronts do the right thing. Yeah, not gonna happen. It’s worth noting, however, that I’m privileged enough to simply not have to take my children to the grocery store, but what about those who aren’t?
YouTube Video
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s "State of the Union" that children who have not been vaccinated—and no child under 12-years-old can be—should continue to wear masks in public and socially distance. She said the hope is that “by the end of this year” vaccines will be available to children in younger age ranges. “We recognize the challenge of parents who can’t leave their kids at home,” Walensky said. “(They) should be masked in those settings and to the best of their ability to keep a distance. The recommendations for those settings have not changed.”
Neither has guidance for schools through the end of the current academic year, but that may not be the case for summer camps, Walensky said. "So yes, we do have to rapidly update our camp guidance and we're working on that right now," she said.
When asked if she trusts if people who aren't vaccinated will keep their masks on, Walensky said: “You know, I think that people who were not inclined to wear a mask were not inclined to wear a mask before Thursday.”
Bash responded: “But some of them were mandated to do so, and those mandates are lifting in part because of your new guidelines.”
Walensky said: ”Yes and what we’re really asking in those settings is to say, in terms of the honor system, people have to be honest with themselves. You’re protected if you’re vaccinated. You’re not if you’re not vaccinated.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that real world effectiveness of the vaccines is even better than in clinical trials at well over 90% protection against the coronavirus. “Number two, a number of papers have come out in the past couple of weeks showing that the vaccine protects even against the variants that are circulating,” Fauci said. “And thirdly, we're seeing that it is very unlikely that a vaccinated person, even if there's a breakthrough infection, would transmit it to someone else.”
YouTube Video
Read more from Fauci’s interview transcribed by CBS News:
Not everyone in the medical community is thrilled about the new guidance.
Dr. Tara Smith, an infectious disease epidemiologist, tweeted in a thread on Sunday that she's "frustrated" about the guidance and the messaging used to defend it. "'Anyone who wanted a vaccine had plenty of time to get it.' This is patently false," she said. "One, the vaccine just became available for the 12-15 year age group. Why not wait another month until many in this group were able to get both shots and develop protection?”
She added: “Two, even those in the 16+ age group who got the vaccines as soon as they were eligible are wrapping up their 2nd dose in some states, because eligibility for them just opened at some point in April. Even if they jumped in on first day eligible, some are not yet fully immune.”
Smith concluded: “I 100% agree that the science shows that vaccinated individuals are very safe. But many still *want* to be vaccinated & can't be or haven't been yet for many reasons. They're now at risk. It's an own goal to not have worked in this area first before changing the guidelines.”
National Nurses United, the country's largest nurses union, released a statement on Friday condemning the new guidance. “This newest CDC guidance is not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of patients, nurses, and other frontline workers across the country,” National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said. “Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century.”
COVID-19 related deaths are still being reported, with 780 people having died from the virus the day the new guidelines were released, the union said. “If the CDC had fully recognized the science on how this deadly virus is transmitted, this new guidance would never have been issued,” Jean Ross, president of the union said.
RELATED: Republicans spend time attacking wearing face masks. Tough. I'll wear whatever the hell I want
RELATED: Essential workers worried about CDC's honor-system mask guidance, this week in the war on workers