CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said vaccinated people still need to wear face coverings, but “one day” we will “be able to get rid of those masks.”
"Are masks with us for a long, long time? Years? Forever?" asked CNBC’s Shepard Smith.
“The best way you can protect people with underlying conditions and people who are unable to get vaccinated is to get vaccines yourself ... What we do know right now from the Delta Variant, is for people who have had two doses of the vaccine, they still need to wear their masks,” said Walensky.
“I do hope that with disease transmission coming down, community transmission coming down, we will one day be able to get rid of those masks,” she added.
CNN senior medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen made similar comments over the weekend.
“Those who are vaccinated, we now know based on the CDC, they are now able with the Delta Variant, because they carry so much virus, they may transmit it to their unvaccinated family members,” said Wen.
“I, for example, even though I’m fully vaccinated, my children are not because they’re too young. So now I have to be careful for my children because of all the unvaccinated people around us,” she added.
