Psaki admits she is ‘tired of wearing a mask’ and says White House understands Americans’ frustrations

Press secretary urged people to not tune out coronavirus experts and scientists

Joe Biden’s top spokesperson Jen Psaki admitted she is “tired of wearing a mask” as she said the White House understood Americans’ frustrations.

The White House press secretary made the frank admission when she was asked at the daily briefing if the American public was tuning out scientists on the steps they should be taking, even after vaccination.

“We believe that health and medical experts should be our north star,” said Ms Psaki,

“As more people will be vaccinated there will be less and less need for certain restrictions and the CDC has said it will continue to evaluate the science and update their guidelines.

“Our objective is to make sure that the American people have confidence that we are leaning into, not making political decisions, but leaning into the advice and counsel of medical experts.”

Psaki said the White House had not told the CDC that it should speed up the loosening of its guidelines, but acknowledged the frustration of the country.

“Sometimes people will feel that it’s too slow, we understand, it is frustrating, I’m tired of wearing a mask too. 

“We understand how the American people are feeling but we feel it is important to maintain that commitment.”

Ms Psaki comments on mask wearing come as experts have suggested the president stops wearing a mask outdoors so as not to confuse the American public.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinated Americans now do not have to wear masks outdoors, except where they are at crowded events like concerts, sporting events and political rallies.

But the president and first lady, as well as vice president Kamala Harris and the second gentleman, have continued to wear masks at their outdoor events despite being vaccinated months ago.

“I understand the desire to project caution,” says Dr Leana Wen, who teaches public health policy at George Washington University, told Yahoo! News.

“But projecting hope is really important too, as is showing the nation the president’s confidence in the power of the vaccines.”

More than 32.7 million people have tested positive in the US during the pandemic and 581,000 people have died.