Sen. Ted Cruz no longer wears a mask at the Capitol, falsely claiming ‘everybody’ in the Senate has been vaccinated against COVID-19 – By Oma Seddiq (Business Insider) / April 16 2021
- Sen. Ted Cruz has stopped wearing a mask at the Capitol, CNN reports.
- Cruz claimed “everybody” in the Senate is vaccinated, but that’s not true of all staffers, reporters, and lawmakers.
- The CDC still recommends vaccinated individuals to wear a mask when in public.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Sen. Ted Cruz has stopped wearing a mask while at the Capitol, according to a CNN report on Thursday.
Defending his decision, the Texas Republican told CNN that since he got the COVID-19 vaccine and “everybody working in the Senate” has also received their shots, he no longer chooses to don a face-covering. However, not all congressional staff members, reporters and even senators have been fully vaccinated.
Notably, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccinated individuals to continue mask-wearing in public as the coronavirus pandemic is not over, and scientists and public health experts are still learning the long-term effects of the shots. Safety precautions such as mask-wearing and social distancing remain necessary at this time, especially amid rising cases and an ongoing vaccine rollout in the US and the rest of the world.
Reporters pressed Cruz on this point, yet he pushed back, claiming: “CDC has said in small groups, particularly with people who were vaccinated don’t need to wear masks,” per CNN. During those comments, a maskless Cruz entered an elevator on the Hill, along with two of his aides who were wearing masks.
