CDC Director: ‘If You Are Vaccinated, You Are Safe from the Variants’

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Wednesday that vaccinated individuals are “safe” from coronavirus variants following mixed messaging from local and World Health Organization (W.H.O.) officials, some of whom are now recommending vaccinated people to wear masks over fears of coronavirus variants.

“If you are vaccinated, you are safe from the variants that are circulating here in the United States,” Walensky said during a Wednesday appearance on Today, attempting to put the W.H.O.’s recommendation in context.

“We know that the W.H.O. has to make guidelines and provide information to the world,” Walensky explained.

“Right now, we know as we look across the globe that less than 15 percent of people around the world have been vaccinated and many people of those have really only received one dose of a two-dose vaccine. There are places around the world that are surging, and so as the W.H.O. makes those recommendations, they do so in that context,” she said, although she appeared to support localities, such as Los Angeles County, for seemingly reinstituting mask recommendations.

“We have always said that local policymakers need to make policies for their local environment,” the CDC director said, citing areas with lower vaccination rates.

“Here in the United States, we are fortunate,” she added, touting three vaccines which she said are both “safe” and “effective.”

“We have two-thirds of the adult population that is fully vaccinated and really quite protected from the variants we have circulating here in the United States,” she said.

Walensky’s remarks follow reports of Biden administration officials rethinking coronavirus measures amid fears of a variant surge in the United States. W.H.O. officials have since altered their position on masks for vaccinated people.

“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses,” W.H.O. official Dr. Mariangela Simao said last week. “They still need to protect themselves.”

“Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission,” she added. “People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene … the physical distance, avoid crowding.”

Los Angeles County is among localities in the U.S. urging vaccinated people to, once again, mask up. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is also urging vaccinated people to bring their mask with them wherever they go.

“I think when we leave our home every day, I would encourage everybody — whether you’re vaccinated or not — to bring your mask with you,” Pritzker said this week. “You know what the guidelines are across the state of Illinois, and use your mask accordingly.”