California's biggest nurses’ union is urging the state to reject the CDC's looser mask guidelines.
As of now, the rules around mask wearing in California have not changed. The California public health department is still reviewing the CDC’s decision and more details are expected to come sometime this week.
But the California Nurses Association said the idea of lifting mask requirements is a blow to the safety and welfare of nurses and front line workers. The union explained the pandemic is still not over and people are continuing to get sick.
However, the latest data shows California has the lowest seven-day case rate in the nation at four per 100,000 residents, and the average daily case rate continues to drop.
"We are doing great in the state of California with vaccination rates, we’re leading the nation," said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi. "We’re doing great in the Bay Area. We’re at a 76% first vaccination rate in San Francisco; it’s astounding, better than any other municipality. I call this vaccine optimism to reduce vaccine hesitancy and I like the idea."
She added that loosening mask requirements at this stage makes sense based on the current science around the vaccine.
"The tools are masks, distance and ventilation but the solution is the vaccine. So we’re in a new era, right? We’ve had these vaccines, we’re rolling them out very quickly, the United States is doing very well. And it isn’t really modeling anything, it’s just, ‘let’s think strictly data-wise about what’s right for a respiratory virus.’ And as we get more and more of us vaccinated, the masks will not be necessary."
But the National Nurses Union, the largest nurses’ union in the country, maintains masks are still necessary because it is still unclear how long vaccine protection lasts or how well it prevents mild infections and transmission.
Related
