Jen Psaki insists there has NOT been a decision to change mask mandates

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday insisted there was no decision to change the administration's mask policy and the CDC said it was still optional to wear face coverings.

Psaki was countering a report the administration was considering urging vaccinated Americans to start wearing masks again given the rising number of COVID cases due to the Delta variant.

'There has been no decision to change our mask guidelines,' Psaki said at her press briefing.

'Any decision would come from the CDC,' she noted. 'No one who has been vaccinated is being advised to wear a mask,' she said for added emphasis. 

Psaki acknowledged there are ongoing conversations about the COVID pandemic and how to handle the rising case numbers that consider multiple factors.  

'We never said that battle was over,' she noted. 'It should be more concerning to you, the American people, if we were not having those conversations.' 

The White House has used the argument that vaccinated people don't need to wear  a face mask as a way to encourage people to get their shot. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Thursday that the agency's recommendations on face mask have not changed.

But, she noted, people can 'make the personal choice' to wear a mask as additional protection. 

 'As we've said consistently, the greatest risk right now is to those who are unvaccinated,' she said. 

She also said local communities should make their own decisions.

'We have always said that communities - local communities have to look at what is going on locally,' she noted. 

Masks were visible on Capitol Hill the past few days after a fully vaccinated staffer for Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID after spending time with the Texas Democrats who fled their state.  

Pelosi required masks at a Capitol event on Wednesday. Her guests were 'expected to wear a mask' at a reception for the new sergeant at arms, according to 'Member Arrival Instructions,' Axios noted in their Thursday morning newsletter.

Meanwhile, multiple sources told the Washington Post that high-level discussions are underway between top White House aides and Biden administration officials over whether the nation's mask guidance should be updated following a spike in COVID-19 cases.  

The CDC relaxed its mask guidance back in May, saying fully vaccinated Americans could go without masks in almost all indoor and outdoor settings, with the exception of public transport.   

But since then, the Delta variant has spread rapidly, now accounting for 83 percent of all new infections on US soil and sending COVID-19 cases soaring 244 percent in the last three weeks.

On Thursday, Philadelphia health officials recommended that everyone should be wearing a mask in public places that are indoors, including those who are fully vaccinated. 

Officials in several states including California and Nevada have already started asking residents - including vaccinated people - to return to wearing face coverings indoors while Joe Biden on Wednesday said the CDC will soon issue guidance encouraging unvaccinated children to wear masks in schools. 

Sources told the Post that talks weighing whether to revise mask recommendations for vaccinated Americans are still in the early stages.

Officials are said to be mulling the possibility of simply updating the messaging coming from the White House or changing the official guidance from the CDC.

Two sources said one idea on the table is to ask all Americans to wear masks in public places or indoor settings where vaccinated and unvaccinated people are mixing. 

This would include the likes of malls and movie theaters.

Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, who joined the CDC and state officials on several calls this week, told the Post several options are being discussed as officials are desperate to get

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