Mandates as Companies Begin to Mandate
Even though polls show that one-half to two-thirds of Americans oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates, depending upon the setting,51 on July 29, the President announced that all federal workers and contractors must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or mask and social distance at all times and get constantly tested.52
The federal government also is urging corporations, local and state government agencies, medical facilities and other institutions to make vaccination a condition of employment.
Some companies, like Google, Facebook, Morgan Stanley, Ascension Health, The Washington Post, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lyft and Uber, Walmart and Disney have already mandated employees to get COVID-19 shots to continuing working for the companies.53,54 On July 30, Broadway theaters announced that all members of the audience will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and must keep a mask on at all times except when eating or drinking.55
Opposition Grows as CDC Admits Fully Vaccinated Persons Can Get and Efficiently Transmit COVID-19
After lifting national masking recommendations for COVID vaccinated persons in May 2021 with the assurance that the vaccine was effective in preventing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection,56 on July 27, CDC officials abruptly reversed course and said that Americans, whether vaccinated or not, should wear a mask indoors outside their homes in certain places.57,58
They said they based that policy change on new information that the COVID-19 vaccines do not reliably prevent infection and transmission of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 and that the viral load in vaccinated persons who get infected is as high as the viral load in unvaccinated persons who get infected.59,60
CDC officials said the new federal indoor masking policy especially applies to adults in "high risk" areas where there are more people being infected with the Delta variant. The masking directive also applies to all unvaccinated children over age two, as well as vaccinated children over age 12 attending school, and additionally includes all teachers, school staff and visitors to schools whether vaccinated or not.61
Reuters reported on July 24 that vaccinated people made up 75 percent of recent COVID-19 cases identified in Singapore, but vaccinated cases were associated with mild symptoms:
"Of Singapore's 1,096 locally transmitted infections in the last 28 days, 484 or about 44 percent were in fully vaccinated people, while 30 percent were partially vaccinated and just over 25 percent were unvaccinated."62
The percentage ratio of infected vaccinated to infected unvaccinated persons in Singapore matches that of a recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Massachusetts. On July 30, Associated Press reported that information in CDC documents revealed that 75 percent of the Provincetown outbreak occurred among fully vaccinated individuals.
About 80 percent of them experienced COVID-19 symptoms, with the most common being cough, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and fever.63
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