Sorry, CDC. We’re keeping our masks on until more Californians get the COVID-19 vaccine
Mask on or mask off? Right now it depends on whom you ask, and that’s a problem.
Prior to vaccines, face coverings were our best defense against COVID-19 and a routine part of our lives for the past year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance on mask-wearing for fully vaccinated people last week, and the nation has been stuck in a state of profound confusion ever since.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday that fully vaccinated people “can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.” That means you could be maskless at hair salons, an uncrowded mall or museum, eating in restaurants and exercise classes. It’s also safe in crowded outdoor concerts and ballgames, the CDC said on its website.
On Monday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the Newsom administration would adopt the guidance on June 15 and lift the state’s mask mandate when California fully reopens.
“We’re giving California time to prepare and think through the implementation of these new guidelines from the CDC,” Ghaly said.
“California’s rules will still allow counties, cities and individual businesses to set their own rules for mask wearing, meaning some local governments and private businesses could still continue requiring residents and customers to use face coverings,” The Sacramento Bee’s Sophia Bollag reported.
The new guidance essentially imposes an honor system on the public. Outside of a vaccination card, there’s no way to know if someone is vaccinated. So-called vaccine passports were largely abandoned after they devolved into a partisan issue since nearly half of Republican men say they won’t get the vaccine. Some people have even tried to sell fake vaccine cards rather than get an injection that is overwhelmingly safe and effective.
So it’s easy to be skeptical of a new rule that places so much trust and responsibility on the individual. Throughout this pandemic, communities have been made less safe and the risk of transmission has increased because of people who flouted public health rules.
Dr. Leana Wen, a professor at George Washington University, said the CDC’s new guidance puts adults and children who can’t get the vaccine at greater risk.
“We’ve seen governors and mayors and business owners drop mask mandates, and as a result of that, we’ve now made life much less safe for people who are unvaccinated, for immunocompromised individuals and for young children who cannot yet be vaccinated,” she told CNN.
Roughly 49% of Californians are fully vaccinated, according to the latest figures. Sacramento County is lagging behind, with less than 36% of the population fully immunized. Even though children ages 12 to 15 are now eligible, providing vaccine access to an additional 2.1 million Californians, health experts have abandoned the idea that we will reach herd immunity where 80% of the public is vaccinated.
The new directives from the CDC give a false sense of security at a critical time. Rather than sorting out mask rules, we should be solely focused on combating vaccine hesitancy and increasing the number of people immunized.
Instead, the CDC’s botched approach to this guidance has only deepened mask confusion across the country. We’re eager to get back to regular life, and the possibility of ditching our masks is a powerful step forward. But if vaccination rates don’t climb before California reopens, many people will still be vulnerable. Until then, we intend to keep our mask on.
This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Sorry, CDC. We’re keeping our masks on until more Californians get the COVID-19 vaccine."