Former surgeon general says CDC guidance last month to ditch masks indoors was 'premature' and 'wrong', just like Fauci advice on masks at the start of the pandemic
Former U.S Surgeon General Jerome Adams has said the CDC's guidance that masks could be ditched indoors for those that have been vaccinated may have been premature in the face of the Delta variant, and has called on the agency to reverse its stance.
Adams, who served nearly four years as Surgeon General under the Trump Administration, admitted on Twitter that he and Fauci 'famously, prematurely, & wrongly advised against masks' at the start of the pandemic.
And he warned the CDC had made a similar mistake in May when it advised that mask restrictions could be dropped.
It comes as nearly every state has witnessed a rise in infections in the last week and CDC data shows the Delta variant is responsible for about 60 percent of these cases.
Adams tweeted: 'Last year Tony Fauci and I famously, prematurely, & wrongly advised against masks. I felt it was the best call at the time, but now regret it.'
'I’m worried the CDC also made a similarly premature, misinterpreted, yet still harmful call on masking in the face of [the] delta variant.'
In May, the CDC announced fully vaccinated individuals no longer needed to wear masks indoors or outdoors, nor do they need to socially distance either.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky praised the guidance at the time as a major step toward normalcy.
But on Sunday, Los Angeles County reinstated indoor mask wearing mandates despite vaccination status as the Delta variant threatens to halt progress against the COVID-19 pandemic across the country.
Former U.S Surgeon General Jerome Adams (pictured) sparked a national conversation over the weekend when he said COVID-19 mask guidances are 'premature' or 'wrong' as potentially dangerous new variants continue to spike.
Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams called on the CDC to reinstate its mask recommendations for the vaccinated in areas with rising infection rates, saying that differing local and federal guidelines were sowing confusion
The reinstatement of indoor mask wearing in LA came after the county saw a 700% increase in its positivity rate over the past month, according to health officials, with the unvaccinated accounting for all hospitalizations.
The spread of the highly contagious Delta strain, which originated in India, has already pushed new infections up to 26,306 nationwide, an increase of 69.3 percent on a seven-day moving average compared to one week earlier.
Nearly every state witnessed a rise in infections in the last week and CDC data shows the Delta variant is responsible for about 60 percent of these cases.
Adams is calling for the CDC to admit they're wrong and 'hit the reset button,' in regards to mask guidelines.
'Now you have health officials, cities & counties (eg LA County), & likely soon states issuing guidance in direct conflict w/ the mask guidance @CDCgov issued a month ago,' Adams wrote. 'The sooner CDC says we were wrong, & hits the reset button, the better. Trust me- I know more than anyone.'
According to Adams, the emerging data on COVID-19 suggests CDC should be advising individuals to 'vax it AND mask it in areas with rising cases and positivity,' until numbers begin to decline.
'CDC was well intended, but the message was misinterpreted, premature, & wrong. Let's fix it,' he wrote.
But he also defended the decision to advise against wearing masks at the start of the pandemic.
He added: 'I still firmly believe Dr. Fauci and I made the absolutely best decision we could at the time. Limited info on the virus, limited supplies, and health care colleagues at extreme risk. That doesn’t mean in hindsight we weren’t wrong. You admit it, and move on.'
On Friday, LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that his department would not be enforcing the new mask mandate, saying that his department lacked resources.
He said forcing the vaccinated and those who had already contracted Covid-19 to wear masks was not backed by science and contradicted CDC guidelines.
'Last year Tony Fauci and I famously, prematurely, & wrongly advised against masks. I felt it was the best call at the time, but now regret it,' Adams tweeted Saturday. Pictured in this photo Dr. Anthony Fauci in an appearance on CBS's 'Face the Nation.'
'The underfunded/defunded Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will not expend our limited resources and instead ask for voluntary compliance,' Villanueva said in a statement.
In California, cases of the delta variant made up 48.8% of all new cases recorded in the state in June, compared to just 6% in May.
The imposition of LA's indoor mask mandate came as health officials from eight Bay Area counties also recommended that vaccinated and unvaccinated residents wear masks indoors.
They said their recommendation was made 'out of an abundance of caution' as an 'added layer of protection for unvaccinated residents.'
Unvaccinated people are of particular risk to contracting the delta variant, health experts say, as CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned that the current outbreak is becoming 'a pandemic of the unvaccinated' as most cases, hospitalizations and deaths are among people yet to take the shot while the nation's vaccination rollout has stalled.
'The Delta variant is spreading quickly, and everyone should take action to protect themselves and others against this potentially deadly virus,' Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said.
'The highly infectious Delta variant is now the predominant strain in Contra Costa County,' Contra Costa County Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano said. 'While vaccines remain our best tool against COVID-19, masking in indoor and crowded outdoor settings will help us curb the spread of this latest wave of infection.'
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