Federal health officials have recently expanded their masking recommendations for more than just public indoor spaces. Now they are recommending that people mask up when they are in crowded outdoor areas, where transmission rates are high.
Dr. Michael Osterholm spoke with News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman about the switch in guidance ahead of the start of the Minnesota State Fair and what he thinks about it.
"First of all, we have to go back to 'why are we even talking about it,'" Osterholm said. "This Delta variant, this particular mutated form of the virus, is highly highly infectious."
With the increase in transmissibility being a factor, Osterholm talked about the effect that large gatherings outdoors have had on COVID-19 numbers this summer. He went on to share that there have been four identified events that have caused outdoor air transmission.
"It just points out that this virus is highly infectious and being in close contact with people in the outdoor environment is surely a major risk factor," he shared.
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When it comes to the recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration, Osterholm thinks it will play a factor in the moveable middle.
"I think it will be a game-changer but not necessarily in how people are anticipating," he said.
Osterholm said that in the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, 185 million people have received the dose, with only some young males experiencing side effects and no deaths reported. To the doctor, this is amazing.
"Nobody died. I don't know if you can hold aspirin up to that same level of safety in 185 million people," he said. "I mean, that's incredible no one has had a serious illness as a result of that vaccine, and yet it has saved many, many, many thousands of lives."
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For those who are still saying that they don't think it's safe, Osterholm pointed out that there has never been a pharmaceutical drug or vaccine that has had a demonstration of safety like this.
"So if now they don't want to get it, the logic will be whatever they want to choose next," he said.
Osterholm thinks the FDA approval will make the most change with private companies' decision to mandate the vaccine.
"People will say, 'you can't tell me what to do with my body' I get that I understand that," Osterholm said. "But this is about the community, and you are a risk in terms of transmission if you get infected."
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When it comes to companies requiring their clientele to get vaccinated, Osterholm compared it to the clean air act in the 1970s that stopped smoking indoors in bars and restaurants. Osterholm pointed out that many said food and drink establishments would go under, but instead, it was the opposite. He thinks the same will happen with vaccine mandates.
When it comes to those who don't want to get vaccinated, Osterholm doesn't see what he calls the "vaccine hostile" changing their minds.
"They are gonna find whatever excuse it is that they won't get vaccinated, and they are not going to," he said. "That's where then the mandate issue comes into play. If you want to be in a certain place, then you have to basically get vaccinated.
"They will argue that it's their right not to. I will argue that it's not their right to infect others in the community."