CNN’s Jake Tapper asks why Biden still wears a mask

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• CNN host Jake Tapper pressed White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients on Sunday over President Biden’s mask-wearing.
• Tapper wanted to be enlightened about why the president still wears a mask in a room of fully vaccinated people.
• According to the CDC’s latest guidelines, fully vaccinated people can gather indoors without masks in small groups. 

CNN host Jake Tapper asked White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients on Sunday why President Joe Biden still wears a mask during press briefings.

“Is it really necessary for a fully vaccinated person to wear a mask at a limited indoor gathering if everyone there is vaccinated?” Tapper asked Zients during an interview on “State of the Union.”

Zients acknowledged the CDC’s new guidance stating people in small groups don’t need a mask when they are all fully vaccinated.

Tapper asked: “So why does President Biden in a room full of vaccinated journalists, everybody in that room vaccinated, why does he need to wear a mask?”

“The president is going to continue to follow the CDC guidance,” Zients said. “It’s just a matter of a few weeks ago when an all states made vaccines eligible for all Americans. So there still are Americans who want to get vaccinated, who may just have their first shot and are waiting for their second shot or who haven’t had an opportunity to get their first shot.”

Biden aims to have 70% of Americans receive at least the first shot of the Covid vaccine by July 4. The number stands at 58% as of May 9.

“We all want to get back to a normal lifestyle. I think we’re on the path to do that. But stay disciplined and let’s take advantage of the new privileges of being vaccinated and not wearing a mask outdoors, for example, unless you’re in a crowded place,” Zients said.

Zients added that there are many “advantages to being vaccinated. And if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not protected.”

Because Zients did not answer the question, Tapper asked again why the president would wear a mask in a room of fully vaccinated people and offered an explanation.

“I think one of the reasons why journalists are annoyingly harping on this … and some health experts are … is because there is a light at the end of the tunnel and President Biden being able to take off his mask in a room full of journalists and White House staffers, all of whom are fully vaccinated, is a demonstration that the vaccines work,” Tapper offered.

Tapper noted that he and Zients were both vaccinated and “have no fear” that they’re going to infect each other. The host insisted that “the concern is that by being overly cautious, the signal is going out to the public that there isn’t necessarily light at the end of the tunnel.”

Both Tapper and Zients were not wearing masks during the interview.

“Everyone is tired, and wearing a mask is, can be a pain, but we’re getting there and the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter and brighter,” Zients said.

Source: Fox News