White House says no change to mask mandate

The White House says there’s been no decision to change the COVID-19 guidance on wearing face masks. Press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Thursday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and not the White House, makes the decisions about public health.

Psaki says any change in the guidance would come from CDC.

The current guidance is that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear face masks while those who are unvaccinated should continue to wear them.

White House and public health officials have been discussing whether to update the mask guidance because of the surge in COVID-19 infections blamed on the highly contagious Delta variant.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a briefing Thursday that while her agency is always reviewing the data, the recommendations haven’t changed.

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