Boston’s doctors are divided on whether Gov. Charlie Baker’s new masking guidelines, which recommend masks only for the unvaccinated, the elderly and the immunocompromised, go far enough to mitigate the spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19.
“We have a highly transmissible strain of the virus — we have good vaccination rates here in Massachusetts, but not as high as you would for herd immunity, and we still have the problem that the kids … can’t get vaccinated,” said Matthew Fox, an epidemiologist at Boston University. Until epidemiologists and doctors have a better understanding of the still-new delta variant, Fox said he would recommend masking indoors.
Fox, who said he has “always had trouble with the fact that we moved away from indoor masking in public spaces,” also argued that a blanket indoor masking mandate is much simpler to follow.
“Simpler is always better and would be, I think, more effective,” he said.
Baker said in a Friday press conference that he simplified federal guidelines enacted Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommended masking for all individuals in counties with high levels of transmission. Baker said these guidelines would require Bay Staters to constantly monitor transmission levels, and that people travel between counties regularly in Massachusetts, where various counties have different levels of risk.
“I may be erring on the side of being conservative, but I think it’s better to play it safe until the delta wave dies down,” said Dr. Davidson Hamer, Professor of Global Health and Medicine at Boston University, largely agreeing with Fox. Even though he called Baker’s new guidance “an important step,” he argued that, as seen in Provincetown over July 4 weekend, breakthrough infections can still occur in younger, vaccinated people.
“They’re not as severe a disease and not requiring hospitalization, but they still can detract from your quality of life and lead to an increased risk of community-based transmission,” Hamer said.
Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health, stood in contrast to his peers, calling Baker’s approach “reasonable,” considering the effectiveness of the vaccines at keeping even infected people out of the hospital.
“The CDC’s (policy) is more aggressive and will reduce transmission more, but Gov. Baker’s ultimately is really protecting the most vulnerable, which will still keep making sure that our hospitalizations are not amped up,” he added.
Ellerin and Baker diverged, however, on schools’ masking policies for this fall. Baker’s policy advised, but didn’t require, that unvaccinated students, including those under 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination, wear masks. It recommended that schools allow vaccinated students to remain unmasked.
“I want to do whatever it takes to keep our kids in school,” said Ellerin. “If that means every kid needs to wear a mask … as much as I don’t want kids to have to or my (vaccinated) kids to have to, I feel like that is a small price to pay to keep kids in school.”
