WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stood by federal guidance that those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer needed to wear masks, while blaming social media companies for fueling vaccine misinformation.
Murthy told CNN’s “State of the Union” that allowing vaccinated individuals to forgo masks also gives communities the flexibility to revert to mask mandates based on new infections and vaccination rates, as Los Angeles https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mask-mandate-returns-los-angeles-coronavirus-cases-rise-2021-07-15 has done.
Nationwide, new U.S. COVID-19 cases surged 70% this week compared with the prior seven days to an average of 30,000 new infections a day, fueled by the Delta variant. Deaths rose 26% week-over-week to an average of 250 lives lost a day, mostly in unvaccinated patients. (Graphic of global cases and deaths) https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi
Murthy said that social media companies have fueled false narratives about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, echoing President Joe Biden’s comments that social media companies were “killing people.” https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/white-house-says-facebooks-steps-stop-vaccine-misinformation-are-inadequate-2021-07-16
“There have been positive steps taken by these technology companies,” Murthy said. “But what I’ve also said to them publicly and privately is that it’s not enough.”
Facebook defended itself against Biden’s assertion in a post https://bit.ly/3xSyRDV on Saturday, saying that it promoted authoritative information about vaccines and acted aggressively against health misinformation on its platforms.
