Mask up (again) and get vaccinated. Now is not the time to let up against covid.

The highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus has forced a return to face masks in some places. Despite the grim disappointment of what might appear to be a step backward, the nation’s pandemic response must not flag. Vaccines have proved to be extraordinarily effective in preventing severe disease and death, and there is no better solution at hand than getting millions more people vaccinated in the United States and the world. Face masks can restrain the spread of this virus. However, it is going to take longer than once hoped. We must not give up.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed guidelines for face masks two months ago for the vaccinated, the decision seemed warranted. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths had plummeted among the vaccinated, and an average of more than 1 million vaccine doses were being administered every day. Now things have changed. In July, the daily doses administered have been less than half a million a day. The seven-day average of new daily cases has soared from 11,701 on June 19 to 51,836 on July 25. The delta variant now accounts for 8 in 10 cases in the United States. Given this shift in circumstances, the CDC is issuing new advice.