Murphy's big announcement on mask mandate expected today

Murphy’s big announcement on mask mandate expected today

by
May 24, 2021
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TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is expected to announce the end of the mask mandate for vaccinated New Jerseyans indoors on Monday. The announcement is expected to come during his daily COVID-19 briefing.

Last week, insiders in Trenton had signaled that the pressure against Murphy’s rebuke of the CDC guidance from May 14th determined individuals who are fully vaccinated, including the two-week post-vaccination waiting period are not required to wear facemasks, has led the governor to a decision reversal.

Murphy remained the only Governor in the U.S. to balk at the CDC guidance, saying his state is “not there yet“. Although the CDC guidance allows local leaders to implement mask-wearing policies, the majority of states in the U.S. abandoned them completely while several other Democrat-run states such as New York, Oregon, Hawaii, and California either announced a future date or modified their mask mandate to be more in line with the CDC guidance.

“Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance,” the CDC stated.

Murphy told New Jersey the mask mandate would continue.

“We’re not there yet,” the governor said, adding, “Maybe in a few weeks.”

The CDC’s decision was based on a study reported on May 14th that the COVID-19 vaccines had a 94% effectiveness among healthcare workers.

“This report provided the most compelling information to date that COVID-19 vaccines were performing as expected in the real world,” said CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH. “This study, added to the many studies that preceded it, was pivotal to CDC changing its recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

That CDC study added to the growing body of real-world evidence (outside of a clinical trial setting) showing that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protect health care personnel (HCP) against COVID-19. mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) reduced the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 by 94% among HCP who were fully vaccinated. This assessment, conducted in a different study network with a larger sample size from across a broader geographic area than in the clinical trials, independently confirms U.S. vaccine effectiveness findings among health care workers that were first reported on March 29.

“Understanding vaccine effectiveness among HCP is important because they are at higher risk for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through patient interactions. Vaccination of HCP protects them and their patients against COVID-19 and ensures the continuation of critical health care services,” the CDC said.

Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci also discredit the FCC decision, saying vaccinated Americans should throw their masks away just yet.

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