Washington (AFP)
By reinstating the wearing of masks in areas at risk even for vaccinated people and by not ruling out a vaccination obligation for federal government employees, before new announcements scheduled for Thursday, the United States has clearly tightened the your Tuesday in the face of the spread of the Delta variant.
"We have seen an increase in immunization in recent days but we need to do better. On Thursday, I will outline new steps in our effort to get more Americans immunized," Biden said in a statement.
The Democratic president also indicated that a compulsory anti-Covid vaccination for federal state employees was "under study", speaking on the sidelines of a trip on Tuesday.
According to the American authorities, 2.1 million people would be potentially affected, if one sticks to the civilian personnel.
It would also be a major step for the White House, which has so far been very reluctant to introduce any notion of constraint in its approach to vaccination against the coronavirus.
"What I'm sure is that if 100 million more people had been vaccinated, the situation would be very different. Get vaccinated," said Joe Biden.
The president, who on July 4, the American national holiday, still wanted to believe in the "independence" of the United States vis-à-vis the virus, had to change his tone in the face of the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
The health authorities, on Tuesday, revised their recommendations on wearing a mask.
"In areas where transmission (of Covid-19) is high, the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks in public places indoors," said Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for the Prevention and Control of diseases (CDC).
If vaccination remains effective against the Delta variant, new data "indicate that on rare occasions, people vaccinated (...) could be contagious and transmit the virus to others," she added.
"These new findings are worrying and unfortunately warrant an update of our recommendation."
According to CDC figures, the number of infections is rising sharply in much of the southern United States, but less in the Northeast, which is better vaccinated.
- Masks in schools -
To curb the spread of the Delta variant, the CDC will also recommend that schools ask teachers, students or visitors to wear the mask, whether or not they are vaccinated.
"We will not go back," reacted former President Donald Trump in the evening.
"We will not make our children wear masks."
"Courageous Americans have learned to live in a safe and responsible manner and to defend themselves (against Covid-19, Editor's note)," he added.
The CDC was still defending its May recommendation last week that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks indoors under most circumstances, with some exceptions including on public transport and hospitals.
But the Delta variant, which now accounts for around 90% of new Covid-19 cases in the United States, has changed that.
Almost half (49%) of the American population is vaccinated but the differences are large between regions.
The latest seven-day weighted daily average is above 56,000 cases, which is close to April levels.
Having to wear the mask again "does not mean that the quality or level of protection of the vaccine has declined," Eric Cioe-Pena, public health expert at Northwell Health, told AFP.
"It is a solution to a problem that exists because we have a high level of people who are not vaccinated."
According to a study published recently in the scientific journal Virological, the viral load in the first tests of patients affected by the Delta variant was 1,000 times greater than that of patients in the first wave of the virus in 2020.
Not only does the Delta variant reproduce within its host faster than previous strains, infected people spread the virus much more in the air, greatly increasing the likelihood of transmission.
Last month, Israel reinstated some mask-wearing requirements, just 10 days after lifting them.
Some local communities in the United States, such as Los Angeles County, have done the same.
© 2021 AFP