Getting vaccinated would 'hang' the coronavirus, according to congressman 1:49
(CNN) -
With the highly contagious delta variant spreading, particularly among unvaccinated Americans, it may be time to hit the "reset button" in the response to the pandemic and for much of the country to get back on its feet. face masks, said one expert.
"We are at a very different point in the pandemic than we were a month ago," Dr. Leana Wen told CNN's Jim Acosta on Tuesday.
"And so we should follow the example of Los Angeles County and say that if there are places where vaccinated and unvaccinated people mix, then the indoor mask mandates should apply."
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Los Angeles County reinstated a mask mandate over the weekend, requiring its use indoors regardless of vaccination status.
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Wen, a CNN medical analyst, said there are two exceptions to the times when she thinks people should wear masks indoors in public: when everyone is vaccinated and has provided evidence, or if there is a very high level of community vaccination.
Ideally, the mask mandates would be in place as leaders move toward methods to test vaccination status to increase vaccination rates, said Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and administration at the Institute's School of Public Health. Milken of George Washington University.
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But roughly 22% of the US population, or nearly 73 million people, live in a county that is considered to have "high" transmission of COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Control. Disease Prevention USA (CDC). Only 48.7% of the total US population is fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the CDC, a number well below the 70 to 85% that health experts have estimated would be needed to slow or stop. the propagation.
With vaccination rates so low, cases are on the rise in 47 states, with the seven-day average of new cases at least 10% higher than the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, signed a renewal of the state of public health emergency due to COVID-19 for another 90 days, as some states are seeing particularly worrying impacts. of the pandemic.
The current increase in cases may continue to put pressure on the health care system in Mississippi, state officials have warned.
"We're going to have a tough few weeks, delta is hitting us really hard," state health official Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Tuesday.
"We are going to see people die needlessly over the next month or two, for no good reason."
Childhood cases of covid-19 almost double since the end of June
While the virus spreads among unvaccinated adults, children, many of whom are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, are feeling the shocks.
"It doesn't appear that this virus is selectively targeting children," Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN's Erin Burnett.
"It's just that so many unvaccinated people are getting delta, that children are being swept away."
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Last week, more than 23,000 children contracted COVID-19, which is nearly double what was reported at the end of June, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported Tuesday.
Children represent almost 16% of the cases reported weekly.
And while children are at lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease than older adults, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky rejected claims that they are not being affected.
"One thing I just want to point out about children is that I think we fall into this misconception of saying that only 400 of these 600,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been in children," Walensky said.
"Children are not supposed to die. So 400 is a huge number for the respiratory season."
Currently, the youngest population eligible for vaccines is 12 years old, although studies are underway to protect younger children.
Moderna's covid-19 vaccine will be available for children from 5 years old
It's "very likely" that data on COVID-19 vaccines in children under 12 will be available in early winter, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
And when they become available, Fauci said he wouldn't be surprised if schools considered including COVID-19 vaccines as a required immunization.
If the pandemic is completely squashed and kept under control with very little activity, then he said he doesn't think school vaccines against covid-19 are required.
However, if there is still a problem with the coronavirus this year and next, "it may very well be necessary," Fauci said on CBS This Morning Tuesday.
Workplaces start demanding vaccines
Many experts have suggested that local vaccination mandates could be an important strategy to increase the vaccination rate and control the virus.
Beginning in August, workers at New York City hospitals and health clinics will need to be vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio's press secretary Bill Neidhardt.
Eleven public hospitals are part of the initiative.
Expert recommends not to stop using mask 1:55
Additionally, Banner Health, a nonprofit health service that is Arizona's largest private employer, requires employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs.
"With limited exceptions, all team members have until November 1 to be fully vaccinated," the company said Tuesday in a press release.
Puerto Rico will eliminate the mandatory use of a mask for people over 12 years of age with a full vaccination schedule
Banner Health cited the rise in the delta variant as a reason for the order, along with the need to prepare for the upcoming flu season.
The company says details on how employees can request a waiver of the requirement will be released later.
"We are taking this step to reduce risk to our patients, their families, visitors and each other," said President and CEO Peter Fine in a written statement.
"Safety is a top priority and the COVID-19 vaccine mandate reflects that commitment."
Banner Health said it employs about 52,000 people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.
These measures could become more common when vaccines gain full FDA clearance, experts have said.
Despite the vaccination push, a poll released Tuesday by Axios-Ipsos showed that the majority of unvaccinated Americans said they are not likely to get vaccinated, regardless of outreach efforts.
CNN's Deidre McPhillips and Michael Nedelman, Jacqueline Howard, Hayley Simonson, Lauren Mascarenhas, Jen Christensen, Virginia Langmaid, Naomi Thomas, and Mark Morales contributed to this report.
Covid-19 Delta variant