Director Rochelle Walensky
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dear Director Walensky:

The undersigned individuals and organizations write in response to the February 25, 2022 changes to the masking guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As you are aware, tens of millions of disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people in the United States have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and still face substantially elevated risk of severe illness or death. We urge the CDC to revise the new guidance to address the needs of high risk people and recommend that everyone wear N-95s or the highest quality masks available in indoor public settings including schools.

The CDC’s new guidance no longer recommends that the general public wear masks indoors, including unvaccinated people and people who have not received boosters, if they live in newly defined “Low” or “Medium” COVID-19 Community Level areas, and only recommends masks in schools in counties with “High” COVID-19 Community Levels. The new criteria for community risk levels reflect admissions and hospital capacity, but deprioritize case counts and do not look at transmission rates or other factors that would quickly register changes in risk. Despite acknowledging that some disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people require additional protections, the new guidance does not address the needs of disabled people and older adults–as well as children with and without disabilities under five who are still not eligible for vaccines. This new guidance will not work for these communities and places us, and our friends and families in danger.

While we share the country’s relief as COVID cases and deaths drop from the peak of the latest wave, we have seen this pattern before. When protections that are key to lowering transmission, such as universal masking, are removed too soon after a peak and before low transmission is demonstrably sustained, new variants emerge, causing cases to spike and putting the lives of all Americans – particularly disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people – at greater risk once again. Pandemic policy must recognize that the most effective way to protect the general public is to prioritize those most at risk in all aspects of policy and guidance. Without that focus, it will be impossible to get ahead of the virus in the long-term, end the pandemic, and stabilize the economy. And Long COVID cases resulting from even “mild” infections will continue to rise, with life-altering consequences for hundreds of thousands of people and strain on our health and long-term services and support systems that are not equipped to handle this mass-disabling event. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data already shows that in 2021 alone, we added around 1.2 million more disabled adults to our communities.ii This is more than any other time on record for BLS and does not even take into account the children who have become disabled. Only once case counts and transmission rates have dropped and universal vaccines are available will the pandemic end.

Until that time, all individuals, including people with disabilities, have a right to fully participate in their communities without putting their health and lives at risk. As young children remain ineligible to receive vaccines, people with disabilities and people of color face continuing barriers in accessing vaccines, and millions of immunocompromised individuals are unable to access COVID treatments due to inadequate supply, universal indoor masking remains necessary for the public health of our nation. The new guidance which will drastically reduce indoor masking at this time is contrary to the White House and the CDC’s stated goal to protect our community and will exacerbate inequities that lead to our further segregation and cause an even higher risk of severe disease and death.

Masking provides crucial protection for many people with disabilities, including those who may not be able to mount a robust immune response to vaccination and those who may be unable to receive the vaccine or boosters because of medical contraindication or young age. For the small number of people with disabilities who cannot wear a mask due to their disability, consistent indoor masking by the general public provides an additional layer of protection. While the relaxed guidance does not apply to health care or congregate living settings, as we have conveyed repeatedly to the CDC and White House, the current masking guidance for health care settings is insufficient and has left many disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people unable to safely go to medical professionals’ offices and unsafe in congregate settings. We support universal indoor masking with the most protective masks as a necessary protection to prevent and reduce spread and ensure that people with disabilities and high-risk health conditions can be fully included in their communities, attend school and access health facilities, as is their civil right. This is particularly the case for people with disabilities who rely on direct support workers who come in and out of their homes from the community and for those living in congregate settings.

As you said in a meeting with some of our organizations on January 21, 2022, “I no longer want a report on inequities, I want to do something about them.” In order to enact an equitable vision of pandemic recovery that centers communities most at risk, we ask the CDC to recommend that everyone wear N-95s or the highest quality masks available in indoor public settings including schools.