Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that the fully vaccinated no longer have to wear a mask, MSNBC Mika Brzezinski, co-host of “Morning Joe,” said that there are times when the fully vaccinated should wear a mask, according to science.
During a segment on the show this week, Brzezinski said that wearing masks will protect individuals against running into more problems as the United States puts the pandemic in the rearview mirror. Her statement came in response to co-host Joe Scarborough suggesting that people need to return to normal for their mental health.
“The CDC is saying go back to living your normal life. This is needed for a lot of reasons. We can talk about businesses — that’s one big part of it — we can talk about restaurants, we can talk about family businesses that have been absolutely shattered by this, but we also need to talk about mental health,” Scarborough said. “We have to have a return to normalcy. And when the CDC is saying return to normal and vaccinations are skyrocketing up over 60%, we need to return to normal for so many reasons.”
Brzezinski “clarified” that some parts of the country may not yet be ready to return to normal, arguing that the fully vaccinated should wear a mask around the non-vaccinated, even though the scientific evidence shows that the fully vaccinated do not spread the disease.
“I hear everything you’re saying. I do think, though, there needs to be some clarity that there are some pockets of the country that may not be ready,” she responded. “I’m here in Washington. In many ways, I’m here doing ‘Know your value’ interviews, but I’m working with a team here, and there is one person on the team who is not vaccinated. I’m wearing a mask around that person. You know, it is, really, if you want to follow the science, then there are times you need to still wear the mask. And that’s where I think it gets really confusing as we try and move forward as a country and put this pandemic behind us.”
“The other thing is, this pandemic is not behind us globally. And that means that we could run into problems again,” she added. “You never know. If you’re looking at the science, and you’re looking at breakthrough cases, and you’re looking at other strains, it’s not completely behind us. And that’s why I think this could be very confusing along the way.”
MSNBC’s @morningmika: “If you want to follow the science,” you should follow my lead and “still wear the mask” despite being vaccinated when you’re around possibly unvaccinated people pic.twitter.com/lTOQDgDEES
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 18, 2021
Brzezinski’s talking points reflect Dr. Anthony Fauci’s, who previously said that he wore a mask because of variant strains of the virus. However, during an interview with “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Fauci said that he only wore a mask for political purposes, not scientific ones.
“Before the CDC made the recommendation change, I didn’t want to look like I was giving mixed signals but being a fully vaccinated person, the chances of my getting infected in an indoor setting is extremely low,” Fauci told host George Stephanopoulos.
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