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Mass. issues updated mask guidance; Baker calls on FDA to give vaccines full approval - The Boston Globe
Jul 30, 2021 2 mins, 40 secs
The Baker administration on Friday released updated guidance on wearing masks following new recommendations this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the rise of the highly transmissible Delta variant, with Governor Charlie Baker calling the guidance “simpler” than the CDC recommendations even as he urged the federal government to speed up full FDA approval of the vaccines.

The state now recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors “if you have a weakened immune system, or if you are at increased risk for severe disease because of your age or an underlying medical condition, or if someone in your household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe disease, or is unvaccinated,” the department said in a statement.

Those who are unsure if they qualify as at “increased risk” for severe COVID-19 should speak with their doctors, the statement said.

On Tuesday, the CDC recommended that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the country that are experiencing “substantial” or “high” COVID-19 transmission.

In Massachusetts, masks are still mandatory for people on public transportation, in health care facilities, and in congregate care facilities, among other certain places, the statement added.

With COVID-19 cases rising in Massachusetts, Baker has faced pressure to update mask guidance in the state.

Some cities and towns, including Cambridge, Provincetown, and Nantucket have acted on their own and urged or required people to wear masks indoors.

Its physicians “strongly recommend” that people wear masks in indoor, public places when social distancing isn’t possible, regardless of vaccination status, Dr.

“Masking is proven to reduce community transmission of COVID-19 and slowing the spread of the virus is critical, as the Delta variant drives a concerning uptick in key public health metrics across Massachusetts and the nation,” the statement said.

The agency has granted emergency use authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines, each developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

But while some have suggested full approval would make it easier for employers and other institutions to mandate vaccinations, thus helping boost overall rates, one lawyer said the distinction between emergency use authorization and full FDA approval of the vaccines does not impact whether employers can mandate vaccinations for employees to return to the office

The argument that emergency use authorization prevents employer vaccine mandates has to do with the condition of informed consent that is tied to the COVID-19 vaccines under emergency approval, Richichi said

“That requirement that you have a right to decline is not the same as whether or not an employer has the right to mandate a vaccine,” Richichi said, “because when an employer is mandating a vaccine what they’re really saying is ‘only vaccinated people are allowed into the workplace.’ So it’s not that they’re forcing you to get it, but that being vaccinated is essentially a job qualification for holding that job.”

An opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel that said emergency use authorization does not prevent employers from mandating vaccines as well as recent mandates set by schools, colleges, and the Department of Veterans Affairs have made it clear that vaccines approved for emergency use can be mandated, Richichi said

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