CDC Director Rochelle Walensky wears mask on Capitol Hill despite her agency's guidance
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky was photographed wearing a coronavirus face covering at a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, days after her agency revised its guidance on mask-wearing to say inoculated individuals can return to some pre-pandemic normalcy.
The latest CDC guidance states that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic,” the CDC’s website states.
Despite CDC guidance and mask requirements for vaccinated individuals being relaxed, particularly on the Senate side of the Capitol, Walensky has kept her mask on through Sen. Patty Murray’s opening remarks.
In Congress, the Senate, where nearly all members have been vaccinated, has relaxed its mask rules, while the House still requires them – except for those speaking on the floor.
Walensky received the first dose of her vaccine on Jan. 7, shared a photo of it on Twitter and urged all Americans to follow suit as soon as they became eligible.
“I’ve never had more faith in the promise of science and the power of hope to get us through this,” she wrote at the time. “I urge all Americans to get vaccinated as soon as you’re able, wear a mask, and stop the spread.”
She came to the Capitol Wednesday to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies regarding the CDC’s budget request for fiscal year 2022.
Prior to the hearing, she did not respond to a question about whether she was concerned about any mask-wearing confusion following the CDC’s move to announce new guidance late last week.
Walensky told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace over the weekend that the CDC’s guidance update conforms to “evolving data” on the coronavirus and denied that the move came under political pressure to reopen the country.
While vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear a mask in places that have relaxed their rules along with the CDC’s recommendations, in most cases they still can, if they want to.
Fox News’ Caroline McKee contributed to this report.
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