New guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday rolled back the agency’s April guidelines that allowed fully vaccinated individuals to walk indoors in public places without masks.
The new recommendation is that everyone indoors should wear masks again, including those who have been vaccinated.
Dr. Dallas County Health Director Philip Huang said experts are learning that vaccinated people can still transmit the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 while showing little or no symptoms.
“While these vaccines are very effective at preventing this person from developing serious illness, hospitalization, and death, they can still be passed on to others more easily,” said Dr. Huang.
In the Dallas Bishop Arts District, some shoppers wore masks on Tuesday, but most did not. Fully vaccinated people have got used to doing without masks.
The new recommendation puts traders like Lawrence Woodson in a difficult position.
She knows that some customers will refuse to wear masks and may get annoyed if she wears one.
“I’ll definitely have one on my desk and read other people’s pointers. And if it’s recommended by the CDC, I think I should respect that, ”said Woodson.
Her active wellness and fitness boutique De Novo thrived during the pandemic with products that she said customers couldn’t find anywhere.
But she was seriously ill for two weeks and suffered from COVID-19 herself.
For example, Woodson said she was vaccinated as soon as a vaccination was available instead of counting on antibodies to survive the disease to protect her from further possible infection.
“I would never want to be in such pain again,” she says.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said wearing masks is not required, even for people who are not vaccinated. Abbott reiterated his position Tuesday but urged unvaccinated Texans to get the shot.
“The governor tells you what’s legal, and that’s political and poll driven. The CDC is not running for office. They tell you what’s safe, ”said Clay Jenkins, a Dallas County judge. “We want to keep our shops busy and keep this economic growth going, but we have to do this responsibly so that we don’t have a major COVID outbreak that hurts us all again.”
Clay Jenkins, a Dallas County judge, joined NBC 5 to discuss the CDC’s new recommendation on masks and the importance of vaccines.
About half of Texas adults are unvaccinated, and the rising COVID-19 numbers last month have put Texas on the list of places the CDC recommends masks again for everyone indoors.
“I was totally happy not to be wearing one. But when things change, I’ll change the way I think too. I think we all just have to listen to the science, ”said Woodson.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson made a statement regarding the new CDC guidelines.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, I consistently and repeatedly urged our residents to follow the advice of doctors and public health experts to reduce the spread of this novel, mutant, and deadly virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest guidelines on masking will be no exception. I encourage everyone to mask themselves if necessary and get vaccinated as soon as possible if they haven’t already, ”said Johnson’s statement.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was considering compulsory vaccination for all federal employees.
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