The United States once again recommends the use of a mask to those vaccinated due to the increase in infections

A woman wears a mask in New York following the CDC announcement BRENDAN MCDERMID / Reuters

After the increase in infections in the United States due to the Delta variant, much more contagious and which already accounts for at least 83% of the country's coronavirus cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, acronym in English) They issued new guidelines on Tuesday that advise vaccinated people to use masks indoors to protect themselves from the new strain of the virus.

According to the director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, "It is recommended that fully vaccinated people wear a mask both in public places and indoors." Before the summer began and the Delta variant had almost no presence in the United States, the pace of vaccination of the population allowed the CDC to relax the rules. That body then announced that those who were vaccinated with a complete schedule could stop covering their nose and mouth.

In May, the cases of people affected by covid-19 decreased considerably and President Joe Biden set the date of July 4 (Independence Day) to give the starting signal to return, as much as possible, to the normality prior to the pandemic. However, the US did not meet the goal that the president had set to reach that day with 70% of its adult population with at least one dose of the vaccine.

The hopes of achieving the mission announced in May faded. Since the beginning of April, when a peak of more than four million doses injected in one day was reached, the rate drastically slowed down to one million a day. Since then, the health authorities have invented the impossible to ensure that vaccination does not enter a bottleneck. Out of fear or neglect, many people have not yet been immunized despite the availability of doses and the facilities provided by the authorities for the population to receive them.

CDC follows the science.

New science makes it clear: #DeltaVariant is surging & more infectious.

Not vaccinated?

Get a vaccine ASAP.

In high transmission areas, even if fully vaccinated, mask in public indoors to help prevent spread & protect others.

https://t.co/bfOV5VzBpq https://t.co/N38iO9Ierr

- Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) July 27, 2021

As reported last week by Walensky, more than 97% of those hospitalized for covid-19 are not vaccinated.

In addition, 99.5% of the deaths occurred among people who had not been immunized, said Vivek Murthy, the highest medical authority in the government.

This Tuesday, Walensky recommended that “if someone is in an area with a high case rate and a low inoculation rate, they should wear a mask if they are not vaccinated.

Nearly two-thirds of counties in the United States have high or notable rates of COVID-19 transmission, by CDC benchmarks, so the agency's recommendations apply to most of the country.

Some States had already reimposed restrictions.

Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the entire United States, has again forced the use of a mask indoors since mid-July, regardless of whether or not people have been vaccinated.

Chicago, the most populous city in Illinois, for its part, has established limitations for travelers from Arkansas and Missouri, two states that have seen a considerable spike in cases in recent weeks, asking for a negative covid test or quarantine to enter.

The other recommendation that is already prevailing, with the 2021-2022 academic year about to begin in some States of the Union, is the use of the mask for all those who attend an educational center, from preschool to students in the upper grades , "Including teachers, staff and visitors, whatever their vaccination status," concludes the CDC.

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