United States | America unmasked

Having taken criticism for being overcautious, the CDC tries the opposite

Meanwhile, America’s vaccination rate is plateauing at a low level

|WASHINGTON, DC

PERHAPS THE Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intended to create an incentive for people to get jabbed when it rolled back mask requirements for vaccinated Americans. The announcement was welcomed by those eager to return to normalcy. But with daily vaccination rates slowing, despite ample supply of vaccine, does the guidance risk making herd immunity a more distant prospect?

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Off their face”

Race in America

From the May 22nd 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Donald Trump has again rewritten the history of January 6th

By pardoning violent offenders, he ignored his own team’s advice

US President Donald Trump

America really could enter a golden age

Donald Trump would need to build on its strengths, and subdue his own weaknesses


A 4-year-old girl carries a doll while walking with her immigrant mother.

To end birthright citizenship, Trump misreads the constitution

It would also create huge practical problems


Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown

His first immigration executive orders range from benign to belligerent

The new American imperialism

Donald Trump is the first president in more than 100 years to call for new American territory—including Mars

The beginning of the end of the Trump era

The new president is more confident, and radical, than ever—and also more accepted