Report: CDC to drop most indoor mask requirements



The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reportedly ditch its guidance for indoor masking for a majority of Americans due to the continuing drop in coronavirus cases nationwide.

The CDC is expected to announce the change in policy as early as Friday according to sources familiar with the plan.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky hinted last week that the organization was reviewing the mask guidance with an eye towards giving people a "break" given improved case counts and hospitalization rates.

Under current guidelines, the CDC recommends people wear masks if they reside in a county with high transmission, which applies to roughly 95% of U.S. counties.

Critics have argued that case counts are not useful for determining social distancing guidelines anymore after so many people have gotten vaccinated. Walensky appeared to reference this criticism when she described how the policies might change.

"We must consider hospital capacity as an additional important barometer," she said during a coronavirus update. "We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen."

The CDC reported that the seven-day average of total nationwide cases had dropped by 43%, from about 213k cases to 122k cases. They also said that 64.5% of the U.S. population had been fully vaccinated, while 76% had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

While many welcomed the possibility that indoor masks would be unneeded anymore, some, like Joy Behar of "The View" screeched that she would continue wearing masks because it was "unsafe" otherwise. A day later, she was caught maskless in a public restaurant with her friends.

Here's more about the new mask guidelines:

CDC set to release new mask guidelineswww.youtube.com

In leaked audio, CDC director tells lawmakers there will be no changes to school mask guidance



CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told lawmakers there are no plans to change the federal guidelines requiring students to wear masks in schools, according to a report.

"The CDC provides guidance," Walensky said during a briefing to the House Energy and Commerce committee. "Our guidance currently is that masking should happen in all schools right now."

Leaked audio from the closed-door meeting on Tuesday was reported by Reason. Walensky, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for preparedness and response, Dawn O'Connell, spoke to lawmakers about federal COVID-19 guidelines, gave updates on vaccines, and answered questions about the pandemic.

According to Reason, lawmakers from both parties criticized the CDC's mask guidance, and Walensky was challenged to explain why federal guidelines appear to be out of step with the latest science.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the ranking Republican on the committee, observed that a major study from Arizona used by the CDC to support school mask mandates is seriously flawed and pressed Walensky to change the federal guidance to be more in line with science and with the international community.

"What we see in the U.S. is an outlier as it relates to the mask mandate for our children to go to school," McMorris Rodgers reportedly said. "[The World Health Organization and UNICEF] have both recommended against masking for kids under the age of 5 because it's going to do more harm than good. For children ages 6 to 11, they think that we should be considering other factors like learning and social development. My question today, my one question, is Dr. Walensky, will you commit to update your guidance by Friday to allow children in person without the burden of masks?"

Walensky did not commit to changing the CDC's guidance by Friday, even though she acknowledged that the Arizona study has "limitations," Reason reported.

"They all have limitations, and that's important to recognize because we are not randomizing schools," she told McMorris Rodgers. "We have to control for whether there are windows, ventilation, and other activities happening outside of these schools. So all of these studies have limitations. But they are for the most part uniformly pointing to that when there's a lot of disease out there, the masks are preventing that disease and preventing that transmission and because of that we are able to keep our schools open."

Another lawmaker, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), demanded that Walensky explain how the school masking guidance is justified.

"Explain why we need to keep allowing school districts to impose a mask mandate on kids," he asked.

Responding, Walensky defended the agency's current guidance and noted that schools are free to disregard the CDC's recommendations, if they so choose.

"I will also say that guidance is just guidance, and all of these decisions, we've continued to say, have to be made at the local level," she reportedly said. "As cases come down dramatically, we have deferred our guidance to the local jurisdictions."

"That's not acceptable," Palmer told her. His frustration is understandable, given that school districts across the nation refer to the CDC's guidelines to justify masking requirements, and in states with statewide mask mandates for schools, those mandates also rely on the CDC's recommendations.

Walensky also faced tough questions from Democrats. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) highlighted the discrepancy between the CDC's masking guidelines and the real-life behavior of people in America, even in progressive areas like the San Francisco Bay Area that Eshoo represents.

"You hear the word confusion over and over again," Eshoo said. "But here's another one for you: masking. You know where I live in the Bay Area, the peninsula in the heart of Silicon Valley? Schools, cities, towns, counties: you're saying one thing, and they're doing something else. And this is a highly educated area, too. I trust our public health officials here. So my first question and my second point to you, Dr. Walensky, why do we have to be on two different tracks? Isn't there some kind of public health consensus about this?"

According to Reason, Walensky attempted to reply with national statistics about there being 170,000 cases per day and 2,200 deaths per day on average, but Eshoo cut her off.

"When you use the national figures, that's not a snapshot of where we are, so can you take that into consideration as you're giving me an answer?" Eshoo said.

"Absolutely," Walensky said. "We know that all of these decisions have to be made at the jurisdictional level. So not only do we report the national data, but we have to report them at the jurisdictional level, because we know that we ask the jurisdictions to look at their local context, to look at their local cases, to look at how their hospitals are doing, to look at their local death rates. And that is exactly what I think is happening across the country in a phased way. Many different policies are rolling out. Some are saying they're removing masks. Now some are saying they're removing masks at the end of the month. Some say we're removing masks at the end of the month, but not yet for schools. And so this is really happening at the jurisdictional level. And what we're recommending is that given right now, where we are for cases, that the masks should still stay on."

Her answer did not satisfy Eshoo, who warned that the CDC is damaging its credibility by excusing some states and local jurisdictions for easing mask mandates without changing its national guidance for mask-wearing.

During public remarks Wednesday, Walensky said the CDC is reviewing its mask guidance with an eye toward giving people a "break from things like mask-wearing," but she reiterated that coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as counted by the CDC, are still too high and that for now, the guidance will remain unchanged.

Unvaccinated adults who previously had COVID-19 may face double the risk of reinfection compared to vaccinated adults: Study



Unvaccinated adults who have had COVID-19 possibly face double the risk of reinfection compared to vaccinated adults, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What are the details?

The new study, which assessed the likelihood of COVID-19 reinfection in unvaccinated adults, found that unvaccinated people who have had coronavirus may be more than twice as likely to get infected again when compared to those who received a vaccine.

According to the New York Times, the CDC study "examined the risk of reinfection during May and June" among hundreds of Kentucky residents who tested positive for the virus in 2020.

The study, according to a Saturday Fox News report, was carried out as part of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"Those who did not get vaccinated this year faced a risk of reinfection that was 2.34 times higher than those who did not get their [coronavirus vaccines]," the Times' Roni Caryn Rabin wrote. "The study suggests that for those who had overcome an infection, the addition of a vaccine offered better protection than the natural immunity generated by their original bout with the virus alone."

Rabin added, "The study's authors cautioned that much is still not known on how long natural immunity to the virus lasts and that genomic sequencing was not conducted to confirm that the reinfections were not simply flare-ups of the remains of the subjects' initial infections."

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that the data in the new study only reinforces the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 — even for those who had prior infections.

"If you have had COVID-19 before, please still get vaccinated," Walensky said Friday. "Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious Delta variant spreads around the country."

In July, Walensky said that the dangerous Delta variant is "spreading with incredible efficiency and now represents more than 83% of the virus circulating in the United States."

What else?

Fox News' Saturday report also pointed out a recent CDC study that "pointed to the success of the vaccines in preventing COVID-19-related hospitalizations among the highest-risk age groups" and noted that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were 96% effective in preventing hospitalizations among adults ages 65 to 74 years.

Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, according to the same report, is 85% effective in that age group.

Obama plans massive birthday bash with 700 people — even as COVID surge prompts gov't health warnings



Former President Barack Obama turns 60 this week, and he really wants to have his bigwig friends over to celebrate.

Forget pandemic-style smaller parties so many people were forced to endure over the last 18 months, the Obamas are planning a massive shindig for this coming weekend with nearly 500 guests and more than 200 staff, Axios reported Sunday.

The birthday bash is set to happen at the former commander in chief's Martha's Vineyard mansion that sits on 30 acres of oceanside property that the Obamas bought for nearly $12 million in 2019, according to The Hill.

"It's going to be big," one source told the paper.

What about COVID worries?

Just last week, as the Delta variant continued to surge, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its masking guidance for vaccinated people in areas where transmission of the virus is high or substantial (though Dr. Anthony Fauci went out of his way to say "the CDC hasn't really flip-flopped at all).

Government experts were everywhere last week and over the weekend advising Americans to avoid large gatherings and to mask up in order to fight the virus — even if those people were vaccinated.

Fauci wants everyone to mask up and rejected the idea that the option to wear one is a matter of person liberty.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told CNN on Sunday that large gatherings should include masks (though he was not specifically asked about the Obama party).

"If you're talking about a small party like I might have at my house for six or eight people who are all fully vaccinated, I do not believe, at this point, we need to put masks on to be next to each other," he said. "But if there were 100 people — and, of course, how are you really going to be sure about people's vaccination status?, and maybe there are some immunocompromised people there ... — then the dynamic changes."

The party will be held outside on the massive estate at the posh Martha's Vineyard community, which does not currently qualify as one of the CDC's "high" or "substantial" transmission areas, and the Obamas have asked all guests to be vaccinated, Axios said. Also, there will be a COVID "coordinator" on the premises to make sure all the protocols are followed.

Despite the fact that the updated CDC mask guidelines are based on the study of an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which is near the Obamas' home, and the fact that the left has made a habit of virtue-signaling about masks as indicators of how much people care about the health of others, there is no indication that revelers will be required to don face masks.

According to Axios, a source familiar with the matter said the Obama blowout will require all guests to be COVID-tested, though they did not indicate when or what proof the guests would have to offer. And there was no indication how or if guests would have to prove their vaccinated status.

Who's going?

Included among the nearly 500 invited guests, Axios and The Hill said, were, of course, the Obamas' Hollywood pals, including Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, and Oprah Winfrey.

Also, Pearl Jam has been tapped to play at the big soiree.

It'll be the who's who of parties, but the guests are not supposed to bring gifts, a source told Axios. Instead, they "are being asked to consider giving to programs that work to support boys and young men of color and their families here at home in the United States, empower adolescent girls around the world, and equip the next generation of emerging community leaders."

The White House responded to news of the party by avoiding the topic of COVID concerns altogether and merely offering to Axios platitudes from President Joe Biden about his former boss' upcoming celebration.

The Hill said Obama's spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

Dan Crenshaw: Democrats 'love to instill fear'; Americans 'shouldn't comply with any more lockdowns, with any more mandates, none of it'



This week a flurry of mask mandates and COVID-19 guidances returned to the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new guidance that recommended Americans, even those who are fully vaccinated, wear face masks indoors in areas of the U.S. experiencing "high COVID-19 transmission rates."

Major cities and several states followed suit and enacted similar mask mandates. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) reacted to the new mask mandates and potential new lockdowns with a message to Americans: "No one should comply."

On Thursday afternoon, Crenshaw shared a video clip of White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre admitting that the Biden administration would consider new lockdowns.

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre, "So if you're listening to the science, if scientists come to you at some point down the line and say, 'It is our opinion that there should be shutdowns and there should be school closures,' you would do that?"

Jean-Pierre responded that the Biden administration would impose lockdowns if the "experts" recommended shutdowns.

"Well, we listen to — like I said, we listen to the CDC and the expert and their guidance. Our — you know, our — the CDC is a body that is very well respected. And we fol- — again, we follow their guidance," Jean-Pierre stated, as reported by BizPac Review.

Crenshaw shared the admission that the Biden administration would implement lockdowns if scientists advised to do so, and captioned the tweet: "If the CDC, Biden, or any local leader recommends another lockdown, don't comply. Businesses. Schools. Restaurants. No one should comply."

If the CDC, Biden, or any local leader recommends another lockdown, don’t comply. Businesses. Schools. Restaurants… https://t.co/893JrgXerw

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) 1627590239.0

Crenshaw made an appearance on Fox News' "Primetime" on Thursday night, where he blasted Democrats and doubled-down on telling Americans not to comply with new lockdowns and mandates.

"Look, the vaccines are actually effective," Crenshaw started. "I actually believe the FDA's data on this. Not only are they effective, but the FDA still stands by their assertion and their assessment of the data that says that the vaccines here in the United States are effective against transmission including the Delta variant."

"So the CDC is in direct confrontation with the FDA. I believe the FDA on this one," the Republican from Texas continued. "I think they tend to be more risk averse, and so they tend to get the science a little bit more right, more often. And I think the CDC has been politicized in this case I think from pressure from the administration.

"Again, because I think the Democrats love to instill fear in the hearts of Americans. And I think Americans are really sick of this. They're over it," Crenshaw stated. "They're not gonna comply, and you shouldn't comply with any more lockdowns, with any more mandates, none of it."

For once the stooges from Vox get my position exactly right.Do not comply with lockdowns. https://t.co/naJT9FOlpx

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) 1627654679.0

This isn't the first time that Crenshaw advised Americans to reject lockdowns. In January, Crenshaw urged businesses to defy any new lockdown orders after a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Houston area triggered a shutdown in Texas.

"Businesses should not comply. Lockdowns are not supported by law, they are unconstitutional edicts," Crenshaw proclaimed at the time. "Law enforcement should not enforce this. Stop stealing people's right to make a living."

Crenshaw also railed against mask mandates this week, particularly a study that the CDC reportedly used to justify mask mandates. In a Twitter thread, Crenshaw attacked the CDC for using a study on masks from India that was "rejected in peer review."

"Here's the truth America: The 'game changer' data the CDC used for the mask mandate is from a single study from India," Crenshaw began the Twitter thread. "The study was rejected in peer review. But CDC used it anyway.

"Even worse, the study followed healthcare workers vaccinated with a vaccine not allowed in the US," he exclaimed.

Then Research Square changed the status to “revise” and said it was a glitch. https://t.co/y9NwTFg0LA

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) 1627500824.0

Does the Administration have any more data to show us?No, according to the latest from STAT https://t.co/JZAPa2M9Qg

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) 1627500827.0

The new CDC guidance on mandating that masks be worn indoors, even by fully vaccinated individuals, was cited in a new order from the Capitol Police requiring face masks be worn "at all times" on the House side of the Capitol complex. The new order states that Capitol Police are to arrest House staff who refuse to comply with mask mandate, which incensed many Republican lawmakers.

CNN host pushes back on CDC director's call for vaccinated people to mask up: 'Why the hell do I have to pay the price for this?'



Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has been tasked with making the television rounds to justify her agency's decision Tuesday to reverse its mask guidelines.

In an interview with CNN's "New Day" Wednesday, the show's co-host grilled her, wanting to know "why the hell" vaccinated people should have to go back to wearing masks.

What happened?

Just two months ago, the CDC declared that vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks. But with the surge of the Delta variant, the agency flipped its recommendation and is now calling for vaccinated Americans to mask up indoors if they are in an area of the country with high or substantial transmission of COVID-19.

Critics of the CDC's move blasted the agency for offering what they viewed as essentially political advice, not health advice. And Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the onetime director of the Food and Drug Administration, called the newly issued guidelines "confusing" and said they would have a "negligible impact" on the Delta surge.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, naturally, defended the CDC's mask reversal and even said, "The CDC hasn't really flip-flopped at all."

When Walensky appeared on left-leaning CNN to promote her agency's latest move, she likely expected a fairly friendly back-and-forth.

What she got was probably a little more pushback from "New Day" co-host John Berman than she had hoped for.

"You can understand the frustration in those of us who are vaccinated saying, 'Why the hell do I have to pay the price for this?'" Berman asked.

Walensky, as has been her wont, offered a fairly unhelpful and uninformative answer.

.@CDCDirector Dr. Rochelle Walensky on the new mask guidance: "With prior variances, when people had these rare bre… https://t.co/G2Eg4hhPqY

— New Day (@NewDay) 1627473137.0

"Right," Walensky replied. “So we're asking everybody in those areas of orange and red to mask up. Here is the reason why — if you're a vaccinated person and you're in one of those areas, as you said, a sea of red, a sea of COVID, you have a reasonably high chance, if nobody is wearing a mask, to interact with people who may be infectious."

"Every 20 vaccinated people, one or two of them could get a breakthrough infection," she added. "They may only get mild disease, but we wanted them to know that they could bring that mild disease home. They could bring it to others."

Who are the "others"? One would assume that she's referring to people 12 and older who have chosen not to receive the vaccine — the very people for whom vaccinated folks like Berman don't want to have to "pay the price." They've chosen to go unvaxxed, let them deal, the thinking goes.

If Walensky's referring to kids, then she has some explaining to do: During that same interview, HotAir's Allahpundit noted, she admitted that the CDC has no evidence that the Delta variant is making children sicker than any prior variant.

Biden’s CDC Director on mask mandates for kids: “We don’t have any evidence” that the Delta variant makes kids sick… https://t.co/IEUzH7uV0j

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) 1627479184.0

(H/T: Mediaite)

Dr. Fauci claims 'the CDC hasn't really flip-flopped at all' on the mask mandates



The internet and cable news went apoplectic this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its COVID-19 face-mask recommendations. But according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC hasn't actually flip-flopped on its mask recommendations.

What's going on?

The agency announced Tuesday that it was now recommending that vaccinated people wear face masks indoors in public settings in areas where there is substantial or high COVID transmission, which counters the CDC's guidance from two months ago saying that vaccinated individuals did not need to don masks.

People on the left and the right immediately began questioning why the vaccinated population needed to wear masks if the vaccines are effectives as the government has claimed they are and blasted the health agency for flip-flopping on the issue.

Never one to miss an opportunity to defend the bureaucracy that continues to pay him quite well, Dr. Fauci, the top White House health adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told MSNBC Wednesday that despite appearances, the CDC has not flip-flopped.

Fauci told the "Morning Joe" audience that though the agency told vaccinated people just 60 days ago that they should shed the masks, "something has changed — and what has changed is the virus."

Fauci on the CDC's mask flip-flop: "The CDC hasn’t really flip-flopped at all." https://t.co/ZNvrCesra5

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) 1627476335.0

"The CDC hasn't changed, and the CDC hasn't really flip-flopped at all," Fauci claimed.

The good doctor said that when the CDC's springtime mask-removal guidance was issued, they were dealing with the Alpha variant, but now the Delta variant has changed the game.

"When that earlier recommendation was made, we were dealing predominantly with the Alpha variant," which was "extremely unlikely" for a vaccinated person "who happened to get infected" to transmit, he said.

"Now we are dealing with the Delta variant, which is really quite a lot more transmissible than the Alpha variant," Fauci stated, adding that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant "can and have transmitted the virus to uninfected individuals."

Former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Wednesday that the CDC's new guidance is "confusing" and will have a "negligible" impact on reducing COVID spread.

"I don't think we're going to get enough bang for our buck by telling vaccinated people they have to wear masks at all times to make it worth our while," Gottlieb told CNBC.

The full Fauci interview on "Morning Joe" is available below.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb: New CDC mask guidance is 'confusing,' will have 'negligible impact' on Delta surge



Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said Wednesday that he thinks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidance recommending that vaccinated people wear masks will have a "negligible" effect on reducing COVID spread.

"I don't think things have shifted, I think they've gotten more confusing for the average consumer because of the shifting advice from CDC," Gottlieb said during an interview on CNBC News.

The CDC issued new guidance Tuesday recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public if they are in an area with substantial or high transmission of COVID-19. Increased COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant and instances of breakthrough infections motivated the CDC to insist that people mask up again, including everyone in K-12 schools, in order to reduce viral spread.

"The bottom line is ... the vaccine doesn't make you impervious to infection. There are some people who are developing mild and asymptomatic infections even after vaccination," explained Gottlieb, who sits on the board of Pfizer. He said those who live in a "high prevalence area" should be aware that even if they are vaccinated a transmissible strain like the Delta variant could spread to elderly people or children who are vulnerable to infection, especially if they are unvaccinated.

But he doesn't think that risk requires widespread masking for everyone in America who's been vaccinated.

"Whether or not that should then translate into general guidance for the entire population that if you're vaccinated you should wear a mask, I don't think that that's the case," he said. "I don't think we're going to get enough bang for our buck by telling vaccinated people they have to wear masks at all times to make it worth our while."

The reason new guidance isn't worthwhile, according to Gottlieb, is that it appears the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant is nearing a peak. He predicted that in "another two or three weeks" the surge of COVID-19 cases will begin to subside.

"This new guidance will have a negligible impact on that," he said.

Some of the states hardest hit by the Delta surge showing some indication that their epidemic waves could be starti… https://t.co/k2KycednLV

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) 1627484440.0

Instead of telling all vaccinated people to wear masks indoors, Gottlieb says the CDC should tell people who live in areas at high risk of COVID spread that if they experience symptoms of COVID or come into contact with someone who has it, they should get tested and consider wearing a mask.

People should also be aware that not all masks offer equal protection from contracting the virus or from spreading it.

"The physical properties of the virus as best we know haven't changed. The reason why this Delta strain is more transmissible is because there's just more of it, you develop more virus early in the course of your infection," Gottlieb said.

"If you as an individual want to protect yourself from this virus, mask quality does matter. Wearing a higher quality N95 or KN05 mask is going to afford you more protection. In the setting of a more transmissible strain, you need to be mindful of the quality of the mask that you're wearing."

Wearing a cloth mask or procedure mask will decrease the likelihood of spreading the virus to others, Gottlieb added, but is unlikely to offer protection from other people around you.

WATCH: Press secretary STUNS reporter as she struggles to explain CDC mask plan



On the latest episode of "The Rubin Report," BlazeTV host Dave Rubin talked about White House press secretary Jen Psaki's comments on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's abrupt change in mask guidance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's defense of Israel's actions on "Face the Nation," and the U.S. Army's new plans for assessing climate change risk.

First, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky struggled to explain to an ABC News "This Week" reporter why the CDC abruptly reversed course on its COVID-19 guidelines for mask-wearing. This is the same person who was warning of "impending doom" a mere six weeks ago. Meanwhile, Psaki was confronted by a reporter on whether or not the CDC mask guidance was changed for political reasons. Yet Democratic leaders like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) are encouraging people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine to continue wearing masks despite the CDC's policy change.

"It has just become very, very clear that the Democrats are the party of anti-science," Dave said.

After sharing a video clip from the news conference, Dave asked, "Could you imagine anyone being more inauthentic than Jen Psaki?"

"The woman is completely incapable of saying an honest direct statement," he added. "She didn't answer the question there at all. The question by the Fox reporter was quite good. It was basically, 'Hey, now that you're seeing what's going on here and CDC rules changing everything, does Biden regret saying that those Republican governors have Neanderthal thinking by opening up?' Then she just babbles on for a while and she's sort of like, 'Well, we have to just follow the science and not make political decisions.' Except that's completely the reverse of what has been proven to be true!"

Watch the video below to hear more from Dave Rubin:



Want more from Dave Rubin?

To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.

CDC clarifies: Schools must continue to make kids wear masks for now



The U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention clarified over the weekend that its new guidance on mask-wearing does not apply to American schools, which should continue to mandate masks for kids and social distancing through the end of the current school year.

Last week, the CDC said that Americans who've been vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear face coverings indoors or outdoors because they've been protected from the virus and will not get sick. But K-12 schools should continue to impose mask-wearing through the end of the 2020-21 school year, the CDC said Saturday.

"Our school guidance to complete the school year will not change," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Fox News on Sunday. She also said the agency will update its school guidance for the fall sometime during summer break.

"We need to update our school guidance, child care guidance, travel guidance — we have a lot of work that we need to do, " Walensky said. "We are actively working on that now."

She also said on CNN that the CDC will not be changing its guidance on mask-wearing in schools because "most kids will not be vaccinated or fully vaccinated before the end of this year."

The FDA has only authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12-17. Any adolescents who get their first shot now will not be fully vaccinated by the end of the current school year in most states since the Pfizer shot requires a three-week break between doses and another two-week buffer after the second shot for people to gain full protection.

According to the New York Times' vaccine tracker, nearly 157.1 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 123 million people who have received both shots and are fully vaccinated.

Biden administration health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci say it's "very important" for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19, noting that there are rare but serious cases of children contracting the virus and experiencing long-term symptoms for weeks or months after infection. But parents remain hesitant to have their children receive the vaccine.

According to one survey, about 1 in 5 U.S. parents say they will definitely not have their 12-15-year-olds vaccinated even though they are eligible to receive the Pfizer shot.

Children younger than 12 are not yet approved for any coronavirus vaccine.

Pfizer and Moderna are each currently conducting trials for their vaccines in children as young as 6 months old.