While on CNN's "State of the Union", President Biden's chief medical advisor and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that he has taken part in conversations about potentially establishing new mask guidelines. With positive case rates of COVID are rising across the United States, health officials are considering mandating mask use to even those who are fully vaccinated in public settings to prevent further spread of COVID-19 and the highly-contagious delta variant.
National Nurses United, the largest union for registered nurses sent a letter to the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky urging the CDC to reestablish mask mandates to help protect essential workers, especially the ones working in medical facilities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine tracker shows that 49.1% of the overall United States population is fully vaccinated. 60% of adults, 18 and over, are fully vaccinated, while 69% have received at least one shot.
A collection of over 50 healthcare organizations issued a joint statement on Monday that calls for all healthcare employers to mandate employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Public Health Association were all included in this joint statement.
While discussing the recent spike of new COVID-19 cases across the U.S., Dr. Fauci said,
"We're going in the wrong direction"
Stay safe!