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It has been quite a week for vaccine mandates in the United States. The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (the president’s lawyer) expressed its opinion that it is legal to mandate vaccination with vaccines distributed under emergency use authorization. The Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency to mandate Covid-19 vaccination for its frontline health care workers. New York City and the state of California declared vaccination or regular Covid-19 testing obligatory for their workforces. (Arthur L. Caplan and Dorit R. Reiss, 7/27)

In the latest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the extremely contagious delta variant is now causing at least 80% of the infections in the U.S. . The emergence of the delta variant has dispelled any optimistic notion that the vaccine rollout would provide a rapid end to the pandemic. Put simply, zero-COVID-19 is not a realistic goal in the United States anytime soon. With infections in the fourth wave now exceeding 60,000 per day on some days , we are drawing down on our arsenal to fight the virus. As an adjunct to the vaccines, we need better, cheaper and more accurate rapid testing for the virus so we can more effectively manage the situation in schools, the workplace and social venues. (Cory Franklin and Robert A. Weinstein, 7/27)

The pandemic is worsening and the delta variant is so infectious, we are told, that we need to return to covid-19 restrictions — even for fully vaccinated Americans. Los Angeles has already reinstated indoor mask mandates, and on Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its previous guidance and recommended that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in certain circumstances. Parents are bracing for a new push from teachers’ unions to delay school reopenings in the fall. This is absurd. While it is tragic that some unvaccinated Americans are suffering, for the vaccinated, the pandemic is over. The rise in covid-19 cases among the unvaccinated poses no serious threat to those who have been immunized. (Marc A. Thiessen, 7/27)

COVID vaccines have proved to be magnificent successes, dramatically decreasing the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. However, there has been uncertainty about whether vaccinated people who still get infected—perhaps with very mild symptoms, or none at all—might pass on the virus to others. Such silent spread could complicate efforts to control the pandemic. In recent months, there has been a deluge of data on the risk of transmission after vaccination. These findings have important implications for how quickly we can get the pandemic under control, and for what we say to those who are hesitant about getting vaccinated. (Daniel P. Oran and Eric Topol, 7/27)

After almost a year and a half, here we are stuck in the middle again on COVID, masks and how best to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that fully vaccinated people didn’t need to wear masks indoors. Today, they reversed course. In an afternoon news conference, officials acknowledged that coronavirus is surging in many parts of the country and recommended that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in those areas. They also recommended that K-12 schools everywhere adopt a universal mask mandate for all students and staff regardless of vaccination status. It was an abrupt about face that underscored just how wrong they were to toss masks aside in the spring. Not only was that messaging from the CDC in May questionable, much of the media reported it in a superficial way making it more dangerous, with headlines like “Unmasking America: CDC says fully vaccinated can ditch the mask” perhaps leading some to think the nightmare was over and we could all go to the beach and get drunk again. (David Zurawik, 7/27)

With the highly transmissible Delta variant now dominant nationwide, new COVID-19 cases are averaging about 55,000 a day, up from 12,000 last month. In the past two weeks, hospitalizations soared, and deaths increased more than 10 percent. For a host of reasons, more than half of the country remains unvaccinated. This perilous moment demands decisiveness and clarity. Instead, there’s too much dithering and reticence among those charged with protecting us. (Renee Graham, 7/27)

Covid-19 variants are racing through the developing world far faster than vaccinations. More shots are desperately needed to slow the spread of the disease — but even they won’t be enough. The so-called delta variant in particular is tipping the pandemic into a frightening new stage. The highly transmissible strain, now infecting more than 100 countries, has upended poorer nations. Hospitals are overflowing in Indonesia, as patients’ relatives hunt desperately for oxygen cylinders. Deaths have been rising for more than a month in Africa, spiking 43% in just one week. Countries from Bangladesh to Zambia have recorded sky-high positivity rates. (7/27)

Case counts are rising, some hospitals are filling up, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is again recommending universal masking in areas where cases are surging. But to suggest that Covid-19 is an escalating emergency in the United States is not quite right. The truth is that the vaccinated and the unvaccinated are experiencing two very different pandemics right now. If we don’t confront that, the nation can’t address either appropriately. (Aaron E. Carroll, 7/27)