CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There's a lot of confusion around the CDC's new recommendation about wearing masks indoors.
Now, even vaccinated people are being asked to mask back up, and that has some people are asking: What gives?
If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 why are you still being told to wear a mask? Let's connect the dots.
All of the evidence we have shows the vaccines offer strong protection against COVID-19. If you are vaccinated, you have very little risk of hospitalization or death from the virus. Multiple studies show the shots reduce your risk of spreading COVID-19 to someone else.
But that research comes with a major caveat. All of those studies were done before the highly contagious delta variant. The CDC says more recent data shows vaccinated people with delta in their systems can spread the virus more easily.
They are carrying over one thousand times the virus particles than someone infected with the original strain.
So even if delta doesn't make you sick, you could pass it on to someone else who might not be protected.
And each time the virus spreads, there is a risk it will mutate and doctors are trying to prevent a strain worse than delta from being created.
That's why even if you got your shot, you may still need to mask up in certain situations.
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