HHS secretary: 'You get to return to a more normal lifestyle' if vaccinated

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says, quite pointedly, that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 "get to return to a more normal lifestyle." If you're not vaccinated, he added during his appearance on CBS This Morning on Tuesday, you're both "a danger" to others and "in danger" from the virus yourself, so "get vaccinated."

Becerra said "the message is quite clear," but some critics felt that hasn't been the case in recent weeks, since public health officials have offered varying perspectives on new variants and whether vaccinated people can still spread the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of course, has issued guidance allowing vaccinated people to travel and gather indoors and unmasked with each other, but the federal government has still been accused of underselling the vaccines, prompting calls for its messaging to more directly tout — as Becerra put it — a "normal lifestyle" as a reward for getting the shots.

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