President Joe Biden snapped back at a reporter who reminded of his previous assertion that vaccinated people would no longer need to wear masks - after the CDC updated its guidance to the contrary.
Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy appeared to frustrate Biden on Thursday when he brought up the fact that the president said in May: 'If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask.'
It came at the end of a White House address in which Biden announced a series of new measures meant to boost vaccination rates around the country, and called for Americans to get their shots and follow evolving government mask guidance.
Doocy piped up just as Biden left the podium and was about to walk out of the East Room, saying: 'In May you made it sound like the vaccine was the ticket to losing the mask forever.'
Biden turned back to reporters and replied: 'No I didn't say that. I said if you're fully vaccinated in an area where you do not have – well, let me clarify, that was true at the time.
'I thought people would understand that getting vaccinated made a gigantic difference, and what happened was a new variant came along, they didn't get vaccinated, it spread more rapidly and more people are getting sick. That's the difference.'
President Biden and Fox News reporter Peter Doocy sparred with one another at the end of a speech in which he pleaded for more people to get vaccinated
Just as Biden walked off the podium Doocy told the president that he had said in May, 'if you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask.'
On Tuesday, the CDC walked back its mask guidelines, requiring them for those fully-vaccinated in areas with high rates of infection.
'This is not a decision CDC has made lightly...this is something that weighs heavily on me and all of America,' said Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, at a news conference.
She also warned that with unmitigated spread, it could only take a few mutations for the virus to be able to bypass the vaccines entirely.
Thursday's address at the White House saw Biden publicly backing the new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on mask requirements.
The CDC urges fully vaccinated individuals to 'wear a mask in public indoor settings if they are in an
