WASHINGTON — Caught seemingly off guard by the rapidity with which Democratic elected officials in states on both coasts have rolled back pandemic restrictions in recent days, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky urged continued caution on Wednesday, even as she acknowledged that approach is falling out of favor.
“We’re not there yet,” Walensky said at a briefing of the White House pandemic response team during which she and others faced a series of questions about how long mask mandates — the most potent symbol of pandemic life — would remain in place. The CDC said last May that vaccinated people no longer had to mask indoors,