Perspectives: Should Vaccinated People Mask Up Again?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Tuesday that some vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors, commentators across the spectrum revived the sharp left-right divide over mask-wearing. The new CDC guidance says everyone should wear masks indoors in COVID-19 hotspots and in schools for grades K-12. The CDC initially dropped its mask recommendation in mid-May.
Many right-rated voices criticized the CDC guidance as overbearing and lacking data to support it, and pointed to studies that suggest vaccinated people don't need to wear masks. Some left-rated voices agreed with the CDC guidance, and highlighted concerns and studies that say vaccinated people may still be spreading the virus. Some center-rated outlets aimed to break down the confusion from both sides; many others in the center highlighted a CDC COVID-19 heatmap with headlines encouraging readers to learn about pandemic data in their region.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
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...
From the Center
No, you’re not crazy. Yes, the CDC’s mask guidelines are confusing — should you wear a mask indoors even if you’re vaccinated?Wear a mask. Don’t wear a mask. Make one. Buy one. Wear it outdoors. Wear it indoors.
Confused? You’re not alone.
So what’s the deal with the CDC’s new guidance? In an effort to help combat the highly contagious delta variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that people in areas with “substantial” or “high” rates of COVID-19 should go back to wearing masks in public indoor spaces.
“The delta variant is showing us every day its willingness to outsmart us,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC,...
From the Right
Stop listening to the CDCThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its guidance once again to recommend that fully vaccinated persons continue to wear masks in certain situations.
Apparently, this reversal was made out of concern for the delta variant, which appears to be more transmissible, though not at all more deadly. That last part is key: Vaccinated persons are not falling seriously ill or dying from the delta variant because the vaccines work. Out of the tens of millions of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, less than 0.037% have been hospitalized...
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