Medical leaders leery of mask rollback; area hospitals plan to continue mandate
Houston-area doctors and medical professionals reacted with dismay to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Tuesday decision to roll back the state’s mask mandate and other precautions against COVID-19.
“From what we’ve seen, lifting restrictions fully can lead to a resurgence, but it’s not guaranteed,” said Spencer Fox, a research associate at UT-Austin’s COVID Modeling Consortium. Because Texas hasn’t reached herd immunity, it’s still vulnerable to new waves of the pandemic.
Abbott’s order came shortly after reports that Houston was the nation’s first city to record all major strains of the virus. And public officials are also bracing for another wave of cases in the wake of last month’s ice storm, which forced many to abandon social distancing as they sought refuge outside of their powerless homes.
“It’s true that Texas has been vaccinating people,” said Peter Hotez, vaccine researcher at Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. “But after the recent freeze, we rank at the bottom of states in the percentage of people we’ve vaccinated: Only 13 percent of Texans have had their first dose.”
“I would have preferred to wait a couple of weeks to reopen while we see how these new variants play out here, and so that we could catch up to the rest of the country in terms of vaccinations,” Hotez continued.
While people who have been vaccinated may feel tempted to go out without their masks, they shouldn’t, said Dr. Diana Fite, president of the Texas Medical Association. A vaccination means they’re less likely to face severe complications from COVID-19, not that they’re less likely to catch it and infect others. COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are still studying the rate of transmission and infection in people who have been immunized, and trial data may not be available until the spring.
“Fully vaccinating 1.8 million people is still a huge number, but it’s far from getting anywhere near where we say things are going to be contained,” Fite said.
Local hospitals say they are not planning to change their masking requirements.
“To ensure the safety and health of our communities, we urge people to continue to wear masks and practice other precautions like hand washing and social distancing, in addition to getting vaccinated,” St. Luke’s Health officials said in a Tuesday afternoon statement. “Wearing a mask is one of the most effective ways to limit the spread of the virus, which is why masks are still required at all St Luke’s Health facilities.”
James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine, said the hospital and medical school will continue to wear masks as a precaution for their patients.
“It’s a three-legged stool where people have immunity because they were previously infected and an increasing number of people are immunized,” McDeavitt said. “But what is bridging us to true herd immunity is masking, distancing and staying out of crowded spaces.”
The Texas Medical Association is urging the public to continue following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to wear face masks, stay 6 feet apart and frequently wash their hands.
The rollback will begin next Wednesday, and allow businesses to open at full capacity.
Abbott said local officials will be able to impose limited restrictions again if the percent of hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise above 15 percent of total hospitalizations.
The Republican governor cautioned Texans to continue following guidelines, including distancing and wearing face coverings.
“This does not remove personal responsibility,” Abbott said. “Personal vigilance is still needed to contain COVID. It’s just that now, state mandates are no longer needed.”
McDeavitt said he believes it’s too early to completely relax mask requirements. The state should have a decline and then plateau of infection rates and hospitalizations before it ends the mandate, he said. He’s not confident that the data is stable enough for that now.
“I think it’s impossible to say whether rates will rise,” McDeavitt said. “The governor also made the point that we have personal responsibility. People should still consider masking and distancing.”
Cases have generally been trending downwards in the state, and many public officials have been optimistic about the outlook since last week, when three major vaccination hubs opened in Houston and Dallas, including one at NRG Park.
Fite, the Texas Medical Association president, said it’s a “possibility” vaccinations will slow any rise in infection rates, especially if people continue to wear their masks.
The UT team’s epidemiological models do not include the new COVID variants, said Fox, the UT researcher, since there’s not yet enough data about the variants to make projections.
“Even though the state is lifting restrictions,” he said, “it’s really important for people to take precautions to protect themselves and their communities.”