CDC director says masks are better than vaccines. Dr. Redfield walked back his earlier comments on masks [updates]
Just about an hour ago, we wrote about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the agency director Dr. Robert Redfield said the country should have enough coronavirus vaccine doses for Americans to return to ‘regular life’ by the third quarter of 2021. Dr. Robert Redfield made the statement during his briefing to the Senate panel.
During the same briefing, however, Dr. Redfield made a confusing statement saying that masks are better than vaccines. Dr. Redfield’s statement is not only misleading but also dangerous. The question is, if masks are better than vaccines, then why is the country spending billions of dollars in developing new vaccines. The other question is, is Redfield trying to prepare us for a largely ineffective vaccine?
“We have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told a Senate committee on Wednesday. “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a COVID vaccine.“
I 100% believe in the importance of vaccines and the importance in particular of a #COVID19 vaccine. A COVID-19 vaccine is the thing that will get Americans back to normal everyday life.
— Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) September 16, 2020
Earlier, Dr. Redfield said that face coverings are “the most powerful public health tool” the nation has against the coronavirus and might even provide better protection against it than a vaccine, CDC director told lawmakers Wednesday. He said that a potential coronavirus vaccine, which will likely be available in limited quantities by the end of this year, may only have immunogenicity of 70%.
Redfield: masks are better than vaccines. pic.twitter.com/vyOB9UqDPj
— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) September 16, 2020