The public health agency has noted, however, that local officials should still decide to enforce mask mandates if COVID cases climb and vaccination numbers are low. And the CDC said that schools can still embrace universal masking if they can't verify vaccinations or have large numbers of students too young to qualify.
\"In areas where there are low numbers of vaccinated people, where cases are rising, it's very reasonable for counties to take more mitigation measures,\" like the mask rule in Los Angeles, Biden's surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, told ABC \"This Week\" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.
\"And I anticipate that will happen in other parts of the country -- and that's not contradictory to the guidance the CDC issued,\" he added.
Fauci, too, noted that guidance will have to be tailored to specific groups, whether that's Los Angeles or school children, because the CDC's guidance is broad and relies on data that isn't always immediately available.
\"That is an understandable, human reaction to really want to be more safe rather than sorry. And I believe that is the reason why they're doing that,\" he said, speaking about the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidance for school children.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/masks-classroom-file-ap-ml-210719_1626706048028_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Mary Altaffer/AP, FILE
PHOTO: In this May 18, 2021, file photo, a teacher, center, and her third grade students wear face masks and are seated at proper social distancing spacing during as she conducts her class in Rye, N.Y.
But Fauci also acknowledged that it created confusion to have different guidance for various settings.
\"That does lead to some sort of confusion sometimes when people see an organization making one recommendation, in general, for the whole country, and then local groups, local enterprises, local organizations, in order to get that extra step of safety, say something different. And you're right, that does indeed cause a bit of confusion,\" he said on CNN Monday.
And it's this approach -- allowing states and local communities to decide and essentially putting Americans on the honor system -- that's in question after COVID cases have risen in nearly every state.
Dr. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general under President Donald Trump, said he made a mistake early on in the pandemic urging people not to mask up because he feared a shortage of masks for health care workers. Adams said he's afraid the CDC is making another mistake now by not putting more pressure on everyone to wear a mask.
\"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,\" Adams tweeted.
\"CDC was well intended, but the message was misinterpreted, premature, & wrong. Let's fix it,\" he added.
The Biden administration though is in a tough spot. The CDC had been under extraordinary pressure earlier this year to show skeptical Americans the benefits of vaccination, including being able to go without a mask and not having to quarantine after being exposed.
And so far, number studies have shown that all three vaccines – Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna – protect people against all known variants. The vaccines also are shown to provide more durable protection than a natural infection.
Also, any federal mandate for vaccines or masks would no doubt trigger a swift backlash among conservatives.
Responding to the former surgeon general calling on CDC to bring back masks, conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted: \"No. No. No. Hell no.\"
For his part, President Joe Biden has suggested in recent remarks that he's worried about the science of the vaccinations and masks, only the people who were choosing to ignore it.
\"Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated,\" said Biden Friday.
And in a speech on Monday, he said, \"Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated Americans. These tragedies are avoidable. ... If you're unvaccinated, you are not protected.\"
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