By Brianna Abbott
Behind the decision by federal health officials to effectively
end face- mask and distancing recommendations for the fully
vaccinated, they said, was a mix of recent research, increasing
vaccinations and declining case counts.
The guidelines now largely follow the growing body of scientific
evidence on the effectiveness of the vaccines against Covid-19,
especially given the current state of the pandemic in the U.S.,
according to public-health specialists.
Parsing the new recommendations and putting them into practice
now shifts to states, communities and businesses. It will likely be
especially difficult in public settings like stores or workplaces,
health researchers say, since there isn't an easy way to determine
who is fully vaccinated.
"There are states that I believe will continue to require masks
in public spaces, simply because we cannot tell who is vaccinated
or who is not," said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and senior
scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers someone
fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer
Inc. and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc. vaccines or two weeks
following the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Throughout the pandemic, the CDC has faced sniping from
lawmakers, researchers and other health authorities on its pandemic
response, including criticism that the federal agency bowed to
political pressure and wasn't giving guidance specific enough for
communities, schools and businesses to implement.
In the first several months after vaccines began rolling out,
public-health authorities stood by recommendations for inoculated
people to wear a face mask and stay physically distant, saying
there wasn't enough data on whether the shots prevented infection
and transmission. Another reason, the CDC said, was high case
counts.
The CDC updated its masking guidance for fully inoculated people
on April 27, saying that people who are fully vaccinated can drop
their masks while alone outside or in small groups.
The change drew criticism from some people specializing in
public health and members of the general public, who said the CDC
was late to adapt to research emerging on the efficacy of vaccines
and the spread of the virus.
The critics said the CDC was being too cautious with its
previous guidance, particularly when it came to masking
outdoors.
The CDC has said it needed to take the time to review the full
body of evidence, which led to its latest recommendations.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday the fully
vaccinated no longer needed to wear a mask indoors or outdoors,
with some exceptions including at hospitals, airports and nursing
homes.
Dr. Walensky pointed to data on the efficacy of vaccines,
including against variants, case counts that have dropped to less
than 37,000 a day in the U.S. and the launch of adolescent
vaccinations.
Nearly 36% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according
to the CDC, and more than 46% of the country has received at least
one dose. Among people 18 years and older, more than 46% are fully
vaccinated.
Another factor informing the CDC decision, Dr. Walensky said,
was recent research on transmission risk for those who are fully
vaccinated and data on the vaccines' real-world effectiveness.
Authorized vaccines are effective at preventing people from
getting infected and spreading the virus to others, in addition to
preventing severe disease and death, according to the latest
studies.
A number of studies, including one published last week, found
that available vaccines are effective against circulating variants
such as the B.1.1.7 variant, which is now the dominant variant in
the U.S.
A recent study from researchers in Israel, which Dr. Walensky
referenced on Thursday, estimated the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was
97% effective at preventing symptomatic infection and 86% effective
at preventing asymptomatic infection among healthcare workers.
A study released Friday by the CDC, looking at healthcare
workers in 25 states, reported that the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer
and BioNTech and Moderna were 94% effective at reducing the chances
of getting sick.
"This report provided the most compelling information to date
that Covid-19 vaccines were performing as expected in the real
world," Dr. Walensky said. "This study, added to the many studies
that preceded it, was pivotal to CDC changing its recommendations
for those who are fully vaccinated."
The CDC's justification for some parts of the guidance, such as
requiring vaccinated people to wear masks on public transportation
but not in other crowded indoor settings, aren't entirely clear and
might have more to do with logistics, said Isaac Weisfuse, a
medical epidemiologist at Cornell University.
"There are all these situational issues that are based on these
recommendations that are not so clear," Dr. Weisfuse said. "I think
it's good about following the science, but there are a lot of
details that are missing."
Write to Brianna Abbott at brianna.abbott@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 14, 2021 16:40 ET (20:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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