have increased across the country. In South Los Angeles, only 40% of the population have received two doses of the vaccine. Dr. José Pérez, Chief Medical Officer at the South Central Family Health Center, said that to protect those unvaccinated, who are the majority, “even vaccinated people should be wearing masks, especially when they are going to be in contact with large groups.” Despite the severity of the Delta variant, the doctor says that the demand for vaccines in LA has dropped and that while the CDC “tries to make recommendations for an entire country,” medicine requires seeing each patient in their uniqueness, That makes it necessary to “adapt the message” for different populations and risks. “A lot of our patients suffer from anxiety and depression ... and we saw a tremendous drop in the number of people seeking mental health services because doctors wore masks,” Pérez said. “We implemented telehealth so they could see our faces because they felt that social cues were missed in these interactions… The message should be that the benefit of maybe missing some of that, is the fact that you prevent one, two, three, or 1000 deaths.” Back to school As a vaccine is not yet ready for children under the age of 12 - clinical trials are expected to be completed in late September and early October - there is concern about the interaction of students who may be carriers, with teachers and parents. The CDC has said that the reopening of schools depends on community transmission, without suggesting specific rules regarding vaccines, use of masks or minimum ventilation conditions. These decisions are left to the counties. “We really need masks for children,” said Dr. Ding. “But more than that, we need ventilation and air disinfection because we can’t always open windows (in classrooms) and you can’t just say that children are immune. That’s not true.” “The solution to an airborne transmission is air disinfection with HEPA and UVGI filters recommended by the CDC… All teachers can buy those for schools with money from the (federal) COVID relief package.” The scientists agreed that there are many theories circulating on social media promoted by the anti-vaccine movement or those who do not believe in the virus, which can influence people’s decisions. “I think the CDC is giving credibility to those who say we don’t need rules,” Dr. Ding added. “Local public health leaders need to understand that until vaccinations get high enough, we have to focus on other things like masking, ventilation, disinfection, contact tracing, and mass testing wherever there are hotspots.” Dr. Perez thinks that “every single American is hearing all these different voices, and they are going to choose one that fits them ... Hopefully the CDC will be a little more aggressive because although there are many people who might not like to hear the idea, I think masks are here to stay,” he concluded. Dr. Jose Perez, Chief Medical Officer, South Central Family Health Center; Dr. Ben Neuman, Chief Virologist, Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University
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