“If you look at the inflection of the curve of new cases and, as you said in the run-in to this interview, it is among the unvaccinated. And since we have 50% of the country that not fully vaccinated, that’s a problem,” Fauci said.

The big picture: Fauci confirmed that new masking guidelines for the vaccinated are under “active consideration” and noted that, although current CDC guideline allows vaccinated people to go maskless, local officials have the discretion to alter this guidance.

This local discretion is “not incompatible” with the CDC guidance, which allows for local officials to amend masking guidelines.