Top White House health officials are discussing revising mask recommendations for vaccinated Americans as cases of the highly contagious COVID delta variant continue surging across the nation.
The Washington Post first reported the renewed mask discussions.
During a CNN town hall Wednesday night, President Joe Biden expressed frustration over the nation’s slowing COVID-19 vaccination rate and said it’s “gigantically important” for Americans to get inoculated.
“We have a pandemic for those who haven’t gotten the vaccination — it’s that basic, that simple,” he said.
Anonymous sources quoted by CNN said that under discussion is what messages on masking the White House offer and what guidance the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should issue. White House officials have repeatedly said it will be up to the CDC whether to change its official recommendations.
Earlier this week, CNN reported the American Association of Pediatrics recommended everyone over the age of 2 wear masks when they return to school.
Earlier this month, the CDC said vaccinated teachers and students don’t need to wear masks inside school buildings. That announcement came amid a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 became eligible to get shots, as well as a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Now, however, the delta variant is making up more than 80 percent of all COVID cases in the nation.
Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested on “CBS This Morning” that parents follow the new COVID-19 guidance for mask-wearing issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That guidance differs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that only unvaccinated children and adults wear masks in schools.
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