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CDC Director Warns Of 'Impending Doom' Amid Nationwide COVID Case Spike

by Erica Gerald Mason
Joe Raedle/Getty

America, we’re gonna need you to make up your mind if you want things to go back to normal in 2021

It seems warmer weather and more access to the COVID vaccine have given many a false sense of security. CNN reports America’s past success against Covid-19 has been practically wiped out as new infection rates soar nationally.

This comes as some people who have already been vaccinated wonder if they still need to follow masking and social distancing protocols. The short answer? Yes, vaccinated individuals still need to follow safety measures, as doctors are still determining how long the vaccinated are immune — and to what extent the vaccination works against new variants.

Now the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits she’s fearful of what will happen next. In an interview with the news outlet, the director said she was putting aside prepared remarks in order to speak to Americans directly.

“What we’ve seen over the last week or so is a steady rise of cases,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

“I know that travel is up, and I just worry that we will see the surges that we saw over the summer and over the winter again.”

This news comes as some were thinking the infection rate had turned a corner.

“Now is one of those times when I have to share the truth, and I have to hope and trust you will listen,” Walensky said.

“I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom … We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now, I’m scared.”

Before she became CDC director, Walensky was on the front lines of the outbreak, watching some patients die from Covid-19.

“I know what it’s like as a physician to stand in that patient room — gowned, gloved, masked, shielded — and to be the last person to touch someone else’s loved one, because they are not able to be there,” she said.

The country has come “such a long way,” Walensky said, urging all Americans to keep masking up and “hold on a little while longer” as more people get vaccinated.

Wearing masks and keeping the course is the best way to get out of this, one Twitter user posted.

President Biden has taken Walensky’s advice into consideration, asking governors to extend the mask mandates in their states.

Biden also hopes that 90% of Americas will have a vaccination site within five miles of them in the next three weeks.

We’ve come so close to this thing improving and the CDC is basically begging Americans to not throw in the towel yet — so it’s probably best that we listen.