The nation’s largest nurses union condemned the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that says fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks in most settings. 

National Nurses United (NNU) in a statement Saturday said “This newest CDC guidance is not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of patients, nurses, and other frontline workers across the country,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo. “Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century.”

“CDC issued this new guidance even though the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard mandated by President Biden’s Jan. 21 executive order has been delayed for two months. This lack of protection compounds the dangers that nurses and other essential workers continue to face on the job,” Castillo added.

The NNU specifically underscores that more than 35,000 new COVID-19 cases are reported everyday in the United States and that concern still exists over the spread of highly contagious variants.

The rebuke comes two days after the CDC said that people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks or practice social distancing. 

The Biden administration highlighted the new guidance as a sign of victory and a return to normality after more than 15 months of death and confusion. 

"Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing. "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy."

Read the rest of The Hill article here.