COVID-19: The Latest on Federal Mask Guidance and Vaccine Mandates

<p>This week has seen considerable movement in the effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic from the federal level.</p><p>On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask guidance, recommending that fully vaccinated individuals wear mask indoors in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates to reduce the spread of COVID-19. At the time of this recording on Thursday July 29, 2021, President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/politics/vaccine-mandate-for-federal-employees-under-consideration/index.html">is expected to announce a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for federal employees</a>.</p><p>On this episode of <em>Health Affairs This Week, </em>editors Rob Lott and Leslie Erdelack discuss the latest on COVID-19, the Delta variant, CDC's updated mask guidance, and President Joe Biden's expected vaccine requirement for federal government employees.</p><p><strong>Related Links:</strong></p><ul> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210212.410237/full/">Assessing The Legality Of Mandates For Vaccines Authorized Via An Emergency Use Authorization</a> (<em>Health Affairs Blog</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818">Community User Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US</a> (<em>Health Affairs</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-announce-new-actions-to-get-more-americans-vaccinated-and-slow-the-spread-of-the-delta-variant/">President Biden To Announce New Actions To Get More Americans Vaccinated And Slow the Spread Of the Delta Variant</a> (White House)</li> <li> <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">COVID-19 Data Tracker: Integrated County View</a> (CDC)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html">When You've Been Fully Vaccinated</a> (CDC)</li> </ul><p><br>Subscribe: <a href="https://fe