By Briasia Russ

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering reinstating the mask mandate for fully vaccinated people. Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper, a CNN anchor, that “this is under active consideration.”  

As the Delta variant continues to spread, Jeff Zients, who is the White House pandemic response coordinator, reports that Missouri, Texas and Florida are responsible for 40% of new COVID-19 cases within the U.S.  

According to Yahoo, Fauci strongly believes that due to the unvaccinated Americans, the virus is continuing to spread.  

“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Fauci said. “And since we have 50%of the country [that] is not fully vaccinated, that’s a problem, particularly when you have a variant like Delta, which has this extraordinary characteristic of being able to spread very efficiently and very easily from person to person.”  

Although the vaccination allows people to safely be in public without a mask, the mask reduces the chances of COVID-19 symptoms. It is however still possible to be infected while vaccinated, the CDC reports.  To reduce the spreading of the virus, officials are requiring strict mask mandates. Yahoo reports that Chicago recently announced that mask will be required in public schools regardless if students are fully vaccinated.  

“That’s a local decision that’s not incompatible with the CDC’s overall recommendations that give a lot of discretion to the locals,” Fauci said. “And we’re seeing that in L.A. We’re seeing it in Chicago. We’re seeing that in New Orleans, because the officials there, many of them are saying, ‘Even if you’re vaccinated, it’s prudent to wear a mask indoors.'”