CDC Draws Flak For New Mask Mandate As Fauci Attributes It To Evolution Of Science

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said that the recent decision made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to lift the mask mandate for people vaccinated against Covid-19 was connected to science.

"The underlying reason for the CDC doing this was just based on the evolution of the science," Fauci said in an interview with "Face the Nation" regarding the updated mask guidance, reported CBS News. "But if in fact this serves as an incentive for people to get vaccinated, all the better. I hope it does actually."

The CDC said on Thursday that anyone who is fully vaccinated against Covid can let go of their masks and forgo social distancing for most indoor and outdoor activities irrespective of the gathering size.

Amid the new guidance from the health agency, the White House lifted its own mask requirement for staff members who were fully vaccinated.

There was some confusion over this decision as CDC said last month that Americans who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus were relatively safer if they wore masks in crowded outdoor settings and inside.

Meanwhile, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said that he found out about the CDC’s new guidance through news reports, and not from the CDC or Biden's administration. "I found out about it in the news, just like the general public did," Ricketts told Fox News.

"We really need to see better communication from the Biden administration, better communication from the CDC when they’re going to make policy changes so we have a heads-up on this and then can use that when we’re making decisions in our own states," he added.

Ricketts also stressed on how the Biden administration’s lack of a cohesive communications strategy has caused uncertainty among many businesses.

He said that the communication failure "creates more confusion when we don't have an advance notice what's going on. We could do a better job of planning if we did, and if not you just leave people scrambling to kind of figure it all out on their own."

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican, said that he also learned about the announcement through the media.

"Due to the inconsistent, convoluted, and ever changing guidance/messaging from President Biden’s CDC, the confusion from businesses and schools across the country is understandable. Here in NH, the state fully phased out restrictions a week ago – so we have already provided businesses with maximum flexibility in how they choose to handle the latest guidance from the CDC," he said in a statement.