The World Health Organization has urged all people to wear masks — including those who are fully vaccinated – while maintaining social distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic safety measures in the wake of the highly contagious delta variant’s rapid spread globally.
Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said people still need to protect themselves despite taking the two vaccine doses.
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Noting that vaccine alone could not stop community transmission, Simao told media at the agency’s Geneva headquarters that people needed to use masks consistently everywhere including ventilated spaces, apart from practicing hand hygiene, physical distancing, and avoiding crowds.
The WHO’s statement comes in the wake of some countries — including the United States – doing away with masks and pandemic-related restrictions as COVID-19 vaccines brought down the number of new infections and deaths.
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Cases of new infections in the U.S. remained steady last week at average 11,659 new cases per day—alongside new infections dropping over the last several months – as per data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
However, WHO officials urged fully vaccinated people to remain safe because a large portion of the world remained unvaccinated amidst the spread of highly contagious variants like Delta in many countries. (AW)
