Health care workers concerned about CDC mask guidance

WASHINGTON, DC — People working on the front lines to battle the coronavirus are taking issue with new guidelines on masks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced people who are fully vaccinated don’t need to wear masks in most settings.

Several health care worker groups are calling it the wrong move, saying they’re worried about an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

“You can’t look at somebody and say, you’re vaccinated, and you’re not. So you need to wear a mask. And we already know that the honor system for wearing masks during this entire pandemic has been a failure,” said Deborah Burger of National Nurses United.

The CDC has spent the last week defending its decision to ease mask-wearing guidelines, stressing that increasing political pressure had nothing to do with the abrupt shift, which they maintain is based on science.

“Decisions about whether to take off a mask mandate have to be made at the local level, have to be made at the community level,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

The CDC is expected to offer more guidance on masks for kids too. It’s not clear when that will happen.

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