Dr. Anthony Fauci told Axios during a virtual event that many Americans are “misinterpreting” the CDC’s new mask guidance, which lets vaccinated individuals forego masks indoors. “I think people are misinterpreting, thinking that this is a removal of a mask mandate for everyone. It’s not. It’s an assurance to those who are vaccinated that they can feel safe, be they outdoors or indoors. It’s not their fault,” Fauci added. “People either read them quickly or listen and hear half of it. They are feeling that we’re saying: ‘You don’t need the mask anymore.’ That’s not what the CDC said. They said: If you are vaccinated, you can feel safe — that you will not get infected either outdoors or indoors. It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks.” Fauci also said Americans will likely need a COVID-19 vaccine booster: “I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so, after getting the primary [shot], because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong.”
