President Joe Biden’s administration compromised public health as it boosted his popularity by calling for an end to federal rules about wearing masks, according to a former Surgeon General.
In May, Biden announced that his hand-picked director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had decided that, according to the science, masks no longer needed to be worn. At the time, the Biden administration was accused of looking for a quick fix to address sagging popularity in the face of rising gas prices.
Jerome Adams, who was the surgeon general for former President Donald Trump, said the action Biden and his CDC took was a mistake — and admitted that he knew all about mistakes, having made a big one.
“Last year Tony Fauci and I famously, prematurely, & wrongly advised against masks. I felt it was the best call at the time, but now regret it. I’m worried the CDC also made a similarly premature, misinterpreted, yet still harmful call on masking in the face of delta variant,” he tweeted.
Adams said the nuances of his concern than snapping up masks would leave few for medical workers were lost.
“What Dr. Fauci and I said was based on the science & conditions at the time, and amounted to ‘save the medical masks (which were all that was available) for the medical workers.’ Both the conditions & the science changed, but what people heard and held to was masks don’t work,” he tweeted.
What Dr. Fauci and I said was based on the science & conditions at the time, and amounted to “save the medical masks (which were all that was available) for the medical workers.”
Both the conditions & the science changed, but what people heard and held to was masks don’t work…
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) July 17, 2021
He said that in a similar fashion, the full ramifications of the CDC’s mask guidance were obscured in the political hoopla over announcing the end of mask-wearing for vaccinated Americans.
“What @CDCgov said was based on the science & conditions at the time, and amounted to ‘you’re safe IF you vax it OR mask it.’ Both the conditions (rising cases) & the science (delta variant) changed, but what people heard and held to was masks were no longer needed…Now you have health officials, cities & counties (eg LA County), & likely soon states issuing guidance in direct conflict w/ the mask guidance @CDCgov issued a month ago. The sooner CDC says we were wrong, & hits the reset button, the better. Trust me- I know more than anyone,” he tweeted.
Now you have health officials, cities & counties (eg LA County), & likely soon states issuing guidance in direct conflict w/ the mask guidance @CDCgov issued a month ago. The sooner CDC says we were wrong, & hits the reset button, the better.
Trust me- I know more than anyone.
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) July 17, 2021
“Instead of vax it OR mask it, the emerging data suggests CDC should be advising to vax it AND mask it in areas with cases and positivity- until we see numbers going back down again. CDC was well intended, but the message was misinterpreted, premature, & wrong. Let’s fix it,” he wrote.
Now you have health officials, cities & counties (eg LA County), & likely soon states issuing guidance in direct conflict w/ the mask guidance @CDCgov issued a month ago. The sooner CDC says we were wrong, & hits the reset button, the better.
Trust me- I know more than anyone.
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) July 17, 2021
Adams said in an interview with Newsmax that the message they have received from the administration is not the one they needed.
“People need to understand that we’re going in the wrong direction very rapidly,” Adams said.
“I want people to first understand two numbers when we talk about containment, getting this virus under control, getting away from mitigation measures,” said Adams. “We were looking at less than 10,000 cases a day in the United States, and we were almost there in June.”
That has now doubled, he said.
“People need to understand we’re going in the wrong direction, very rapidly,” said Adams. “Number two, the Delta variant is three to four times more contagious than original strains of COVID.”
He said he opposes mandatory vaccinations, but urged Americans to make the choice that leads to a vaccination against COVID.
“Please understand if we can get enough people vaccinated, that will obviate the need for many of these mitigation measures,” he said.
Adams said the sheer numbers being infected with the Delta variant should give Americans pause.
“Three times as many people are getting it, and that means you have three times as many chances for someone to die,” said Adams. “The virus itself is not more deadly, but it actually could have a broader impact.”
