Former Surgeon General Still Pushing Masks, Says CDC Should Admit It Was Wrong

Former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said on Saturday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should walk back its loosening of the mask guidance amid a rise in COVID-19 variants.

In June, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said fully vaccinated Americans don't need masks in most public places, but Adams said officials should admit those statements were "premature."

"Instead of vax it OR mask it, the emerging data suggests CDC should be advising to vax it AND mask it in areas with cases and positivity- until we see numbers going back down again," he said. "CDC was well intended, but the message was misinterpreted, premature, & wrong. Let’s fix it."

He added: "The sooner CDC says we were wrong, & hits the reset button, the better."

"Last year Tony Fauci and I famously, prematurely, & wrongly advised against masks. I felt it was the best call at the time, but now regret it," he said. "I'm worried the CDC also made a similarly premature, misinterpreted, yet still harmful call on masking in the face of delta variant."

The former Surgeon General said many places could soon issue guidance in direct conflict with the guidance of the CDC, and he says the sooner the CDC admits they were wrong, the better.

Adams said he doesn't like this more than anyone else but thinks having honest conversations with people about how fast the Delta variant is spreading is important.

Adams said in the series of tweets that he believes in local control and states rights and that local health officials should have the guidance and flexibility to respond to emerging health and capacity needs. "It’s not one size fits all — either way," he said.