White House to states: Don’t ease up now on mask, distancing rules

The Biden administration on Monday told states not to lift mask mandates and distancing rules as the coronavirus situation slowly improves, citing still-high transmission that exceeds last summer’s peak and fast-spreading variants.

Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the situation is too dire to ease off universal mask-wearing and repeated President Biden’s request that Americans wear face coverings for the first 100 days of his term.

“We have yet to control this pandemic, we still have this emerging threat of variants,” Dr. Walensky said. “And I would just simply discourage any of those [easing] activities. We really need to keep all of the mitigation measures in play here if we’re going to get control of this pandemic.”

Officials said it would be “counterproductive” to discuss one-on-one discussions with individual governors. But the comments followed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to lift a statewide mask mandate and limits on public gatherings. The Republican governor also gave businesses leeway to control their own occupancy.

Her proclamation, which took effect Sunday, “strongly encourages Iowans, businesses, and organizations to take reasonable public health measures consistent with guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health.” She also said people at high risk from COVID-19 should limit activities outside of the home.

Biden adviser Andy Slavitt said he understands the pressure governors are under as they impose rules and mandates, and that it would be “counterproductive” to disclose deliberations the White House had with specific states.

“We think the voice of the CDC is preeminent here, they look at all the data,” Mr. Slavitt said. “We will continue to have those conversations with the states.”

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was more pointed in a weekend tweet alongside a link to a story about Ms. Reynolds’ order.

“100 Days of masking to bend the curve. Is that too much to ask?” he wrote.

Like the rest of the country, case counts are down to pre-Thanksgiving levels in Iowa, though tracers have found at least three cases of the fast-moving B.1.1.7, or “U.K.” variant, of the virus.

The strain is starting to spread faster than other strains in the U.S., according to a preprint study that finds it is most prevalent in Florida.

“Our study shows that the U.S. is on a similar trajectory as other countries where B.1.1.7 rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize COVID-19 morbidity and mortality,” the study said.

Meanwhile, South Africa stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine because it was unable to stave off moderate disease. 

Scientists are finding that the strain prevalent in South Africa diminishes, though doesn’t totally undermine, vaccines from other makers. The strain has been detected in at least two U.S. states.

The emerging strains are putting pressure on the U.S. to vaccinate against existing versions of the virus before it mutates into even stronger forms. 

“It gets back to vaccinating as many people as you possibly can and implementing the public health measures,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

However, Dr. Fauci said the U.S. does not plan to delay second doses of the mRNA doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to maximize the delivery of initial doses. He said it is important for people to get their second doses — 21 days or 28 days apart depending on the version — to gain the protection demonstrated in trials.

He also said a “suboptimal” immune response to one dose of the mRNA vaccines could prompt the virus to respond by mutating into a stronger form.

Johnson and Johnson is seeking emergency-use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine that requires just one dose.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he was “perplexed” by the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to wait until Feb. 26 to vet the J&J vaccine with its advisory panel. The gap gives regulators time to review the company’s big file of trial data.

“We understood it wasn’t going to be like a 24-hour process, but they set the date for the very end of February. In these times, working round the clock is something you should be doing to get these things approved as sooner as possible,” Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, said at a press conference in Miami. “This is almost four weeks they will allow this to go.”

The FDA, in its meeting announcement last week, said “this amount of time will allow the FDA to thoroughly evaluate the data and information submitted in the [emergency-use] request before the meeting and to be prepared for a robust public discussion with the advisory committee members.”