Wearing a mask more effective than a vaccine, CDC director says

The director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, on Wednesday said that wearing a face mask is more effective than a vaccine.

“(Masks) work and they are our best defense,” Redfield said. “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID, than when I take a COVID vaccine.”

Some medical experts agree with him, for a few reasons.

“We don’t expect these first-generation vaccines, necessarily, to be the best ones,” local infectious disease expert Dr. Dena Grayson said. “In general, vaccines are not effective in every single person, especially older folks. And unfortunately, it’s the older population that is more at risk from this coronavirus.”

Dr. Redfield believes a vaccine will be approved by the end of the year, but says there will be a limited supply which they’d have to prioritize.

© 2020 Cox Media Group