Fauci expresses worry as variant spreads in U.S.
Mask, shot guidance weighed
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic is “going in the wrong direction” in the U.S. because too many Americans are still choosing not to get vaccinated. He also spoke on the possibility of renewed mask-wearing and of booster shots for vulnerable groups.
“I’m not sure if it would be the worst-case scenario, but it’s not going to be good,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when asked about recent statistical models that show covid-19 cases and deaths could surge in the coming months if vaccination rates don’t increase.
With about half of Americans not yet vaccinated and with the fast-spreading delta variant circulating, Fauci and other current or former health officials on Sunday pressed the case that vaccination is the best and most effective way to stem the tide of covid-19 cases.
“This is an issue predominantly among the unvaccinated, which is the reason why we’re out there, practically pleading with the unvaccinated people to go out and get vaccinated,” Fauci said, adding: “It’s like you have two kinds of America. You have the very vulneraAnother
ble, unvaccinated part, and you have the really relatively protected, vaccinated part. If you are vaccinated, you are in a very different category than someone who is not vaccinated.”
Dr. Jerome Adams, surgeon general in the Trump administration, also encouraged vaccination, casting the decision in patriotic terms. “Get vaccinated because it’s going to help every single American enjoy the freedoms that we want to return to,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Adams said some people still have legitimate questions about getting vaccinated, including those who worry that post-vaccination side effects might cause them to miss a day of work or a paycheck. He predicted that immunization rates will increase once the vaccines — currently available under emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration — become fully licensed. That will probably prompt the military and some businesses to mandate vaccination for service members and employees, he said.
In the meantime, Adams said, the message should be that “it is your choice, but choices come with consequences to you and other people,” including children not yet old enough for vaccination and people who are medically vulnerable.
MASK MANDATES
Several current or former officials discussed whether recommendations or mandates for wearing masks should be reinstated.
Fauci said the Biden administration is considering whether to reissue stronger mask-wearing guidelines. In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its guidance, saying that people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks in most indoor settings.
But, Adams said, “that guidance, quite frankly, has confused citizens; it’s frustrated businesses and public health officials who I continue to hear from; and it’s been, by any qualification, a failure.”
He said the CDC should state clearly that even people who are vaccinated should wear masks if they are in public, around people whose vaccination status is unclear or in a community where covid-19 cases are increasing.
“The CDC needs to give those businesses, those health officials a little bit of cover by clarifying the guidance that they have out there,” Adams said.
Fauci said local rules, such as Los Angeles County’s return to mandating masks indoors regardless of vacci- nation status, are compatible with the CDC recommendation that the vaccinated do not need to wear masks in public.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Thursday that the agency was sticking with its recommendations that fully vaccinated people don’t usually need masks, though she added that wearing one may have some advantages.
In addition, booster shots may be suggested for people with suppressed immune systems who have been vaccinated, Fauci said.
He said the issue of a third shot was discussed Thursday by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which will continue to review the data that “might push us in that direction.”
Pfizer Inc.’s covid-19 vaccine was just 39% effective in keeping people from getting infected by the delta variant in Israel in recent weeks, according to Israel’s Health Ministry, but it provided a strong shield against hospitalization.
“The data that’s evolving from Israel and from Pfizer indicates that it looks like there might be some diminution in protection,” Fauci said. The vulnerable, such as organ transplant and cancer patients, are most likely to be the first to be recommended for booster shots, he said.
WARNING IN GERMANY
In Germany, politicians were deeply divided Sunday over a warning by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary if covid-19 infection numbers reach new heights in the coming months.
Chief of staff Helge Braun told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he doesn’t expect another coronavirus-related lockdown in Germany. But Braun said unvaccinated people may be barred from entering venues such as restaurants, movie theaters or sports stadiums “because the residual risk is too high.”
Braun said getting vaccinated is important to protect against severe disease and that “vaccinated people will definitely have more freedoms than unvaccinated people.” He said such policies would be legal because “the state has the responsibility to protect the health of its citizens.”
His comments fueled a debate about potential vaccination requirements. The issue has proved divisive, even within Merkel’s Christian Democrats party. The party’s candidate to replace Merkel as Germany’s leader, Armin Laschet, said he opposes any formal or informal vaccination requirements for the time being.
“I don’t believe in compulsory vaccinations, and I don’t believe we should put indirect pressure on people to get vaccinated,” he told the German broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. “In a free country, there are rights to freedom, not just for specific groups.”
If Germany’s vaccination rates remain too low this fall, then other options could be considered, Laschet said, adding, “but not now.”
With the delta variant spreading in Germany, politicians have debated the possibility of compulsory vaccinations for specific professions, including medical workers. No such requirements have been implemented yet.
Germany’s vaccination efforts have slowed in recent weeks, and that has led to discussions about how to encourage those who haven’t yet been inoculated to do so. More than 60% of the German population has received at least one dose, while more than 49% is fully vaccinated.
During a recent visit to the Robert Koch Institute, the government-run disease-control agency, Merkel ruled out new vaccination requirements “at the moment” but added, “I’m not ruling out that this might be talked about differently in a few months, either.”
Others immediately pushed back against Braun’s comments Sunday.
Rolf Mutzenich, head of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group, said politicians should be focusing more on getting willing citizens vaccinated than on penalizing the unvaccinated.
“We’re not going to sustainably change the vaccination behavior of individuals with threats,” he told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
FRENCH MEASURE
Early today, France’s parliament approved legislation requiring special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel and mandating vaccinations for all health workers.
The measure has prompted protests and raised political tensions. President Emmanuel Macron and his government say the measure is needed to avoid new lockdowns and to protect vulnerable populations and hospitals as infections rebound.
The law requires all workers in the health care sector to start getting vaccinated by Sept. 15 or risk suspension. It also requires a “health pass” to enter restaurants, trains, planes and some other public venues. It initially applies to all adults, but it will apply to everyone 12 and older starting Sept. 30.
To get the pass, people must have proof they are fully vaccinated and have recently tested negative or have recently recovered from the virus. Paper or digital documents will be accepted. The law says a government decree will outline how to handle vaccination documents from other countries.
The legislation was unveiled last week. Lawmakers worked through the night and the weekend to reach a compromise version approved by the Senate on Sunday night and by the National Assembly after midnight. The rules can be applied through Nov. 15, depending on the virus situation.
Macron appealed for national unity and mass vaccination to fight the resurgent virus, and he lashed out at those fueling anti-vaccine sentiment and protests.
About 160,000 people protested around France on Saturday against the rules proposed under the legislation. Many marchers shouted “liberty” and said the government shouldn’t tell them what to do.
Visiting a hospital in French Polynesia afterward, Macron urged national unity and asked, “What is your freedom worth if you say to me, ‘I don’t want to be vaccinated,’ but tomorrow you infect your father, your mother or myself?”
AUSTRALIAN PROTESTS
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday denounced the weekend’s anti-lockdown protests in Sydney as “selfish and self-defeating,” after some 3,500 people rallied Saturday in response to New South Wales tightening its regulations last week.
Nearly half of Australia’s population of roughly 25 million is under some form of lockdown, and Sydney’s is entering its fifth week as variant-fueled outbreaks have hit cities and communities that until recently were largely spared the worst of the pandemic.
The demonstrations violated the region’s strict stayat-home orders, restrictions on public gatherings and mask mandates.
And authorities are warning that it might have been a superspreader event.
New South Wales police said Sunday that they had arrested 63 people said to have been involved in the protest and had charged 35 with violations such as resisting, assaulting and obstructing officers. Two men were charged with striking a police horse; they were refused bail.
Police have appealed to the public for help identifying participants; they said they have received more than 5,500 reports. They are also combing social media, police body cameras and surveillance footage.
“It achieves no purpose,” Morrison said, according to the Guardian. “It won’t end the lockdown sooner.”
Other Australian leaders issued similar condemnations.
“It just broke my heart that people had such a disregard for their fellow citizens,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. She said she was “utterly disgusted.”
“Sydney isn’t immune from morons,” said New South Wales Police Minister David Elliott, according to the Guardian.
Protests were also held in Melbourne and other cities across Australia. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews described the demonstrators as a “small minority having a self-indulgent tantrum.”
You “cannot vaccinate against selfishness,” he said.