Hours after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new guide that opens the door to anti-vaccinated people COVID-19 exclude the use of masks, even when sharing in enclosed spaces, the designated Minister of Health, Carlos Mellado, was not categorical about the local government’s stance on the announcement of a new executive order this week.
Mellado did note that from his individual perspective he believes that the use of masks should remain generalized.
“I don’t want (the CDC guide) to be an excuse or an incentive to stop wearing the mask. At the time we are vaccinated, we must continue to use the mask because the strategy is to protect people who have not been vaccinated until we achieve immunity to the herd, ”Mellado said.
The health minister stressed that while the CDC’s recommendation refers to groups of people in which each individual has gone through the vaccination cycle, in practice this is unlikely to be the case in any particular space.
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While it is true that vaccinated people have a very low chance of showing symptoms if they become infected, at the time of the risk of transmission that it represents for people with whom it comes in close contact, there is no certainty.
However, Mellado was hesitant when asked what recommendation he would make to the governor Pedro Pierluisi, which plans to announce a new executive order this Thursday to replace the decree expiring next Sunday.
“We follow the specific guidelines. What I wanted to emphasize is that the educational process must continue. We’re going to express ourselves on that, just remember this news is just coming from us coming in the door. In my opinion this can be confusing. We are going to analyze it. If we are all vaccinated, it is highly unlikely that anyone can (get sick). The use of the mask, since I don’t have a tattoo that says ‘I have a vaccine’, I won’t know […] On that premise, if you ask me, I would use the mask. We’re going to analyze this and we’re going to generate protocols that we’re going to make public, ”said Mellado.
In this case, won’t the government necessarily follow CDC guidelines? Subway
“We have to analyze it, because an hour ago (we found out). That’s what epidemiologists and doctors are there for, everyone, to decide what to do, ”the doctor replied.
Mellado accepted as a last resort that the government should maintain the “chant” so that the public continues to take precautions, including the use of masks in public places.
“If we’re going to say tomorrow that Vieques and Culebra don’t use masks (because much of their adult population has been vaccinated), the answer is no. Until a single Covid patient is hospitalized here, we will continue to use a mask even after everyone has been vaccinated. That is the position of the Ministry of Health, ”said Mellado.
In Puerto Rico, the administration of 567,813 vaccines is currently registered, of which 356,436 corresponds to the first dose and 211,377 to the second dose.
Mellado and the Adjutant General of the National Guard Jose Reyes, they stressed that the second phase of vaccination would begin this week for the population of the municipal islands of Vieques and Culebra.
The military explained that during the first phase, 3,800 people were vaccinated in Vieques, while another 4,600 would receive the first dose this week. In the case of Culebra, 1,200 people were vaccinated in the first round, so there are another 400 residents who would start their cycle in these days.