Process Of CDC Adjustment On Mask Guidelines Questioned

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relaxed its mask-wearing guidelines. But not all health experts agree with how the move was made. A Wake Forest Baptist Health infectious disease expert is among them.

Under the new guidelines released last week, vaccinated people who are two weeks past their final dose can quit wearing masks in crowds outdoors and in most indoor settings.

Dr. Christopher Ohl with Wake Forest Baptist Health says he worries that the message that some people will take from the move is that the pandemic is over, even though it's not. He says the virus will likely find a way to continue spreading among groups of people who haven't gotten their shots.

“The problem is I don't think the CDC thought a little bit about all the human behavior that goes with that," he says. "And what I'm concerned about is the unvaccinated groups of people saying ‘Ya know, good enough for them it's good enough for me — I'm getting rid of the mask.'”

Ohl says about half the people in the county still haven't been vaccinated. He says it's still important to wear masks in certain settings, including hospitals and places where people live in large groups like nursing homes and prisons.

On Sunday, the CDC defended the decision saying it was based on science and that increasing political pressure had nothing to do with the shift.