NIH Director: Masks ‘Still Important’ Post-Vaccination, ‘Even If We’re Overdoing It, That’s Fine’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins stated that even after people have been vaccinated, “we don’t know exactly whether it’s still possible for that person to carry the virus. It might be, and until we have better data, then masks are still important.” And that on masks, “Even if we’re overdoing it, that’s fine. Better that than run the risk of infecting more people.”

Collins said, “[I]t is still entirely possible for people to be out there in public who are infected with this virus and don’t know it. And the only way we’re going to keep such individuals, and it might be any of us, from spreading this is if they’re careful about wearing that mask. It’s not about protecting themselves as much as it is protecting everybody from them. Even after vaccination, we don’t know exactly whether it’s still possible for that person to carry the virus. It might be, and until we have better data, then masks are still important. I know people are tired of them. I’m tired of them too. But, at the same time, it’s a simple measure. It’s a life-saving medical device. Just put it on. Even if we’re overdoing it, that’s fine. Better that than run the risk of infecting more people.”

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