On July 27, 2021, the CDC reversed course on its recommendations for wearing a mask. The new guidance now suggests that everyone in a high transmission area should wear a mask. The new guidance also says that schools, including teachers and k-12 students, should mask up. According to Blount County Schools Superintendent Rodney Green Masks will be “optional and are not required at this time”.
This news may come as a shock to many people who got their vaccine thinking they were done with the mask. The CDC released this statement on their website “To reduce the risk of being infected with the Delta variant and possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.”
below is a graph from the CDC on Blount County. We are in a “high transmission area” with only 85 cases.
The CDC had this to say about the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines, “A growing body of evidence indicates that people fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) are less likely than unvaccinated persons to acquire SARS-CoV-2 or to transmit it to others. However, the risk for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.” The only mention in the science brief about the J&J version of the vaccine which is an adenoviral vector vaccine, was “Studies are underway to learn more about the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.”
If you would like to do some light reading, you can read the CDC Science Brief here.