Whitmer says May CDC mask guidance was 'infuriating' and a mistake

[TexasTowelie]

Shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled her “Vacc to Normal” plan in late April rolling back pandemic restrictions as the state moved closer to meeting its goal of 70% of residents 16 and up getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the feds stepped in with new health guidance.

In mid-May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that “fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”

The state of Michigan dropped its mask order days later and Whitmer announced an end to all health restrictions by late June as COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths dropped.

The CDC guidance — which was later reversed in July — has been criticized by many health officials as the more contagious Delta variant has spread across Michigan and the nation. In a phone interview Wednesday morning, the Michigan Advance asked Whitmer if the CDC’s May guidance was a mistake and if it made it harder for officials to issue future mandates.

Read more: https://michiganadvance.com/2021/11/24/new-whitmer-says-may-cdc-mask-guidance-was-infuriating-and-a-mistake/

[Sherman A1]

1. It was a mistake by the CDC

And we are paying for it now.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. The same thing happened here in New York, the mask mandate to enter any business,

Which had been in place for over a year, was rescinded in July, just in time for "tourist season" in these parts. It's now "the honor system," only the unvaccinated are supposed to still wear masks. Good luck with that.

[Skittles]

3. it was disturbing how many DUers did not get that it was a huge mistake

they behaved as if goal all along was to stop masking instead of ending a pandemic.

[we can do it]

5. I agree, and yes we are all paying for it now.

We should be the smart ones.

[Skittles]

17. absolutely correct

it's always disconcerting to find out some people here can be as clueless and selfish as repukes

[Scrivener7]

8. And as if those who said it was a mistake were "doom and gloom mongers."

I wonder if that contingent, the one who keeps describing the realistic among us being "doom mongers" ever gets tired of being completely wrong.

My guess is that they don't notice that they are.

[Kahuna]

10. Same. I said so at the time and was countered with...

I trust the CDC...OK. But they were wrong. Clearly. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Too bad the CDC didn't have that mindset.

[Skittles]

16. it is ridiculous to blindly trust anyone or anything

no INDEED

[Kahuna]

19. I watched Dr. Walensky as she advocated that vaxxed go maskless...

on CNN and was gobsmacked at how she appeared ready to trust...or not trust the unvaxxed to mask...or whateves... :

[Skittles]

20. trusting people who voted for Donald Fucking Trump

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

[madaboutharry]

4. It was a tragic mistake.

Leaving it up to unvaccinated people to behave honorably was not only foolish and misguided, it was a recipe for tragedy.

At the time, I could not understand what they were thinking. The people at the CDC apparently had no understanding of the true nature of the anti-mask and anti-vaccine crowd.

Additionally, it was premature since there was obviously not enough data at the time to have documented vaccinated person to vaccinated person transmission.

[Kahuna]

11. All of this. nt

[we can do it]

18. +1

[mopinko]

6. why did they do it?

i've wondered ever since. i suspect part of it was the horrors of who ended up trying to enforce them. but also assume tfg's people pushed this.

[tanyev]

13. I think it was an Arthur Carlson moment for the CDC.

WKRP in Cincinatti-"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

I think whoever made the decision believed that saying "fully vaccinated people may stop wearing masks" would be the final motivation unvaccinated people needed to go get vaccinated. And they would dutifully wear masks until they were fully vaccinated. Which demonstrates a dangerous misunderstanding of what was actually going on in this country.

[Irish_Dem]

7. The CDC has been a big disappointment.

[Scrivener7]

9. At every step of the way from the very beginning. Ever since they told us, "Don't mask! Just wash

your hands and everything will be fine."

[Kahuna]

12. Same. nt

[Irish_Dem]

15. Yep. Many missteps.

[Tomconroy]

14. They said take it off in April. They said put it on in July. That's

what I did. Delta was mostly a problem for the unvaccinated.