The confusion about the use of masks provokes a new political confrontation (Analysis)

Dr. Huerta analyzes new guide on the use of masks 2:32

(CNN) - America's

incipient limbo between a full-blown pandemic and a return to normalcy is creating new public health dilemmas that set off instant political fires, such as a new round of mask-wearing bombast.

Top White House aide Anita Dunn Sunday defended President Joe Biden for his continued use of a face mask outdoors, even though the practice appears to conflict with the administration's new, relaxed guidelines for citizens entirely. vaccinated.

In comments that did not necessarily clarify the situation, Dunn told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that "extra precautions" were being taken for the president and that wearing a mask was "a matter of habit." .

Republicans, seeking to dent the strong public approval ratings for Biden's handling of the pandemic, have already accused him of fostering stigma against people who refuse to wear masks, including many conservatives. The Republican National Committee, for example, criticized Biden for "violating" guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the issue has become one of the last pockets of culture warfare for right-wing talk show hosts.

Republicans are using the face mask controversy to reinforce their broader narrative that Biden and the Democrats are too politically correct and use the power of government to infringe on American freedoms, a presumption that works for them from taxes to guns. and from public health to climate change.

The exchanges suggest that safely dismantling the network of covid-19 precautions will prove as contentious as implementing them, showing that little is immune from politicization in a nation internally estranged by ideology.

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• 15 of the safest activities for those who are fully vaccinated, with and without masks

Debates among political rivals and in the medical community and conversations among citizens about how to get out of a year of isolation are almost certainly just the first in a series of arguments about how vaccinated and unvaccinated people can behave. The next few months are likely to see a wave of controversies, including the hotel industry, cruise ships, education, aviation and those affected by the mass return to work.

It's not just political factions using the issue to gain partisan advantage, though that's happening as covid-19 restrictions continue to straddle the essentially American tension between individual freedom and the reach of government.

Medical experts are engaging in an intense debate over whether the CDC is being overly cautious in loosening the mask guide or offering conflicting and confusing advice to the public.

That medical debate is giving way to a growing political debate as families struggle to assess their risks, seek advice from leaders, and try to decide whether and how to travel, vacation and socialize in the surprisingly overwhelming process of resuming their pre-pandemic activities. .

"A patriotic responsibility"

The complications of emerging from the pandemic, a process that no one currently in positions of power has ever experienced, explains why Biden's success in getting more than 100 million Americans fully vaccinated does not mean that COVID-19 is already. it is neither dangerous nor politically treacherous to the White House.

The latest debate over wearing face masks, a practice that former President Donald Trump did much to unnecessarily politicize during his careless handling of the pandemic, was sparked by the president himself. He wore a face mask as he walked to a microphone at a rally outside the White House last week announcing new practices in wearing face masks. He later told NBC News in an interview that it was a "patriotic responsibility" for vaccinated people to continue to do so. His comment came despite evidence that vaccines are highly effective and that COVID-19 is far less transmissible outdoors than in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor environments.

The president's comments followed new guidance from the CDC last week that means fully vaccinated people can now remove their mask in small outdoor gatherings or when dining out with friends from various households.

Unvaccinated people still need to cover their faces.

• Stopping wearing a mask if there are no crowds is a good reason to get vaccinated, says Biden

The council encapsulated a dilemma that may be impossible to resolve in a nation where many people are now fully vaccinated, but millions more refuse to do so at a time when the virus is still widely circulating.

Scientists and administration officials must balance giving incentives to reluctant Americans to get vaccinated, speaking of the restored freedoms it could bring, while avoiding the impression that everyone should remove their masks.

Meanwhile, many Americans, in the first hint of summer, seem to be taking matters into their own hands with the face masks anecdotally worn in some cities and towns on the East Coast over the weekend.

After months of emphasizing caution and sticking to restrictions, after failing to do so cost thousands of lives under Trump, Biden now appears to be at risk of paying a political price for being overly circumspect even though his initial caution proved successful.

Scientists are also not united on the subject of masks

The political debate about masks is reflected in the medical community.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a renowned cardiac surgeon and professor at George Washington University, said the CDC had been "too cautious."

"They have both been very competent since taking over the new administration and very cautious," Reiner said on CNN's "Inside Politics" on Sunday.

Reiner said that while he had been adamant about wearing the mask for the first 12 months of the pandemic, he was confident that someone who has been fully vaccinated is immune to COVID-19, and no longer needs to wear a mask in public and can do the same inside.

"It's time for the CDC to start adopting this kind of bifurcated strategy and perhaps giving the unvaccinated a hint of what life might be like if they get vaccinated," he said.

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said that with the daily average of new COVID-19 cases still above 50,000 and with many adults refusing to get vaccinated, experts from the Government will continue to be cautious.

"CDC will hesitate to withdraw the indoor mask mandates and I think that's right," Jha said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"This is a pretty dangerous time to not be vaccinated, but what [the] CDC is pointing out is that if you are fully vaccinated, freedoms are becoming increasingly safer for people."

• Myths about the covid-19 vaccine: these reasons for not getting the vaccine don't hold up

Republican Senator Warns Against 'Shaming' Vaccine Refusers

While public health experts warn that maximizing vaccines is vital to creating the herd immunity in the population needed to stop the spread of COVID-19, about 44% of Republicans said in a CNN poll last week. that they would not try to get vaccinated.

And a Republican, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, warned the administration over the weekend not to try to pressure or stigmatize that group.

"Is United States.

Everyone has an individual right.

I think one of the things we need to be careful about is not embarrassing people, being patronizing or opposing their way of life, "Marshall told CNN's Pamela Brown on" Newsroom "on Saturday.

Marshall, who is also a physician, has been working to persuade people that vaccines are the best way to ensure a speedy return to normal life.

But he argued that many Americans were being alienated by confusion over masks.

“They have been told that they do not need a mask.

They need a mask.

They have been told that even if they have a vaccine, they should keep wearing the mask, ”Marshall said.

• Why are so many people avoiding the second dose of the covid-19 vaccine (and why they shouldn't)

But Dunn told Tapper that the best way to ease such concerns and ditch the masks for good is to get vaccinated.

"People should follow the CDC guidelines and should take the opportunity to get the vaccine, get fully vaccinated, and remove the mask, especially when the weather becomes so beautiful and we all want to be outside," Dunn said.

"It's a lot more fun to walk outside without a mask," he said.

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