Fauci expects CDC to provide 'significant clarification' on specific mask guidance soon

published 16 May 2021

While most Americans seem happy to know they don't frequently need to wear a mask if they're vaccinated against COVID-19, there's still quite a bit of confusion about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's specific guidelines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told CBS News' John Dickerson on Sunday that clarity is coming soon. What the CDC will do next, Fauci said, is issue "individual types of guidance" for mask-wearing protocols in, say, a workplace. "I would imagine within a period of just a couple of weeks, you're gonna start to see significant clarification of some of the actual understandable and reasonable questions that people are asking," Fauci said.

Meanwhile, CNN's Dana Bash asked CDC Director Rochelle Walensky if she trusts people who are not vaccinated to wear masks (as recommended by the CDC) going forward, given that the new guidance will likely lead to a rollback of state and local mandates. Walensky's response was fairly candid — she said she thinks "the people who are not inclined to wear a mask were not inclined to wear a mask" before her agency updated its guidelines, anyway.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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