United States (US) President Joe Biden received his second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks after getting his first one with television cameras rolling to reassure the public that the jabs are safe.
On May 9, Jeffrey Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator, addressed the president’s reasoning during on CNN’s State of the Union.
State of the Union host Jake Tapper showed a recent video of the president saying: “When I’m inside its still good policy to wear the mask.” He then proceeded to ask Zients if it’s “really necessary for a fully vaccinated person to wear a mask at a limited indoor gathering if everyone there is vaccinated.”
Zients responded by recounting a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guideline change quickly followed up with the question: “So why does President Biden in a room full of journalists if you’ve got everybody in that room vaccinated, why does he need to wear a mask?”
The answer, according to the government official, is that Biden is “going to continue to follow the CDC guidance.” He added: “It’s just a matter of a few weeks ago when all states made vaccines eligible for all Americans.”
According to the CDC, it is still recommended for fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks inside in order to protect individuals who may not be vaccinated.
“In indoor public spaces, the vaccination status of other people or whether they are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 is likely unknown,” the CDC guidelines state.
“Therefore, fully vaccinated people should continue to wear a mask that fits snugly against the sides of your face and doesn’t have gaps, cover coughs and sneezes, wash hands often, and follow any applicable workplace or school guidance.”
Continued mask use is also important to stave off the spread and development of mutant strains of the coronavirus that could prove resistant to the already-developed vaccines.