Fauci: CDC Changed Mask Guidelines Because Vaccinated People Can Transmit, Which Is ‘Very Unusual, Rare Event,’ That Isn’t Common

On Tuesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that the CDC revised its mask recommendations for vaccinated people because vaccinated people who have a breakthrough infection “can transmit it to other people.” But “This is not a common event” and is “a very unusual, rare event, but it occurs.”

Fauci said, “The Delta variant has a very unusual capability of spreading much more easily than the Alpha did. And the other data that we’re having right now is that when people get breakthrough infections, when they’re vaccinated and they get infected, even when they have a situation where they don’t have an advanced disease, they clearly can transmit it to other people. This is not a common event. So, I don’t want people to be thinking that all kinds of vaccinated people are transmitting it. No, it’s a very unusual, rare event, but it occurs. So, when you have vaccinated people who might have a breakthrough infection, and we know now, as a fact, as a scientific fact, that they can transmit the virus to an uninfected person, it’s for that reason that the CDC made the change in recommendation, and did, just as you correctly stated, namely, that, if you are vaccinated, if you are in [an] indoor setting, you should still wear a mask.”

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