Biden received the first dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus in a televised appointment in late December. He urged all Americans to get vaccinated and asserted that the vaccine was safe as well as highly effective. But some critics have questioned why Biden consistently continues to wear masks in public, even as federal guidelines about fully vaccinated people and mask-wearing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were eased this week.
“I do think there’s so many mixed messages out there and the data are really clear. If you’re vaccinated and the people around you are vaccinated, your chances of dying of COVID are much less than dying of just a car crash going out in the street—our normal daily activities,” Giroir explained in an interview with Fox News on Friday.
“If you’re around vaccinated people, you should not wear a mask. You’re very, very safe. If you’re outdoors, you could always physically distance and be outdoors without a mask around other people,” he added, explaining that “we know that transmission is very low” outside.
Giroir argued that Biden’s insistence on wearing a mask outdoors “is very confusing and it’s causing people to not have faith in the vaccine.”
On Tuesday, the CDC officially eased guidance around outdoor mask wearing. The federal agency said it’s acceptable for fully vaccinated Americans to forgo masks when they are walking, hiking, running or biking alone outdoors or attending small gatherings. The guidance continues to call for masks to be worn during crowded outdoor events, such as games at open-air sport stadiums.
“Go get the shot. It’s never been easier,” Biden said, announcing the change to the CDC’s official guidance. “And once you’re fully vaccinated, you can go without a mask when you’re outside and away from big crowds.”
Some Republicans and members of the Trump administration were critical and skeptical of wearing masks, despite face coverings being shown by multiple scientific studies to have a significant impact in curbing the spread of COVID-19. But Giroir staunchly promoted masks prior to the widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Wearing a mask is incredibly important but we have to have like 85 or 90 percent of individuals wearing a mask and avoiding crowds. That is essentially—gives you the same outcome as a complete shutdown,” Giroir told NBC News’ Meet the Press in early August.
As of Friday, nearly 145 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, more than 100 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, the CDC said Friday. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, spaced apart by a period of several weeks. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is just one shot. On average, about 2.55 million doses of the vaccines are being injected in arms every day.
The number of new daily COVID-19 infections and deaths have dropped precipitously in the U.S., although the numbers still remain relatively high. As of Thursday, there were an average of 58,528 new daily infections over the past week and about 697 daily deaths, according to The New York Times tracker.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
