Science Editor Meets White House Reporter On Relaxing The Mask Guidelines

Last week, the CDC suddenly reversed its guidance on vaccinated people wearing masks indoors, taking many, including some at the White House, by surprise. So what's the politics behind the new guidance, and what are the public health considerations?

On Today's Show:
Nsikan Akpan, WNYC's health and science editor, and Annie Linskey, Washington Post national reporter covering the White House, talk about the CDC's change to its indoor mask guidance, including the political forces at play, and what it means for people's health.

NOTE: In the interview, Akpan misidentified a statistic about breakthrough cases. As of the best available data at the time of the interview, there were 1,300 severe COVID cases -- those which result in hospitalization or death -- out of 115 million fully vaccinated people, or about 1 severe case for every 100,000 vaccinated people. The best available data on total breakthrough cases, mild or severe, indicated 9,245 infections out of 95 million fully vaccinated, or about 1 in 10,000 breakthrough infections.