CDC director denies political pressure affected new mask guidelines
By Joseph Choi - 05/16/21 09:29 AM EDT
Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Sunday said that the agency's recent decision to recommend that vaccinated no longer wear masks had nothing to do with political pressure from lawmakers.
While appearing on "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Walensky to clarify what was behind the seemingly sudden shift in the CDC's recommendations for mask-wearing, asking her to confirm that pressure from lawmakers like Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) had nothing to do with the decision.
"Yes, I can [confirm]," Walensky said.
"I can tell you it certainly would have been easier if the science had evolved a week earlier and I didn't have to go to Congress making those statements, but I'm delivering the science as the science is delivered to the medical journals," Walensky said. "And, you know, it evolved over this last week, the cases came down over the last two weeks. And so that's — I delivered it as soon as I can when we had that information available."
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https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/553750-cdc-director-denies-political-pressure-affected-new-mask