Many Americans have been skeptical of the government recommendations for COVID-19 prevention. The latest changes to policy likely won’t help — and the mainstream media is finally taking notice.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended masking even for vaccinated individuals now while federal employees will have to vaccinate or repeatedly submit to testing, Breitbart reported. This contradicts previous allowances for those inoculated and signals weakness in the Biden administration’s handling of the issue.

The mainstream media typically does the heavy lifting selling just about anything Democrats propose. However, some of the more left-leaning news outlets are starting to notice the fallout likely from the mixed messaging and back peddling.

For example, NBC Night News actually aired a segment about healthcare workers who are reluctant to get the vaccine. Although the coverage wasn’t the most friendly, it still took seriously the fact that educated individuals are skeptical of the vaccine — a far cry from the usual “tinfoil hat” narrative previously used to dismiss skeptics.

Also, Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post tweeted his support for those pushing back against the renewed mask mandates for vaccinated people. “If people are vaccinated, I don’t understand the point of shaming or attacking them for not wearing masks. Democrats or Republicans,” Dawsey tweeted Friday. “Why are we doing this?”

If people are vaccinated, I don’t understand the point of shaming or attacking them for not wearing masks. Democrats or Republicans. Why are we doing this?

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) July 30, 2021

Even left-leaning Politico acknowledged that President Joe Biden’s new rules for government workers — including mandatory vaccinations or weekly COVID-19 testing — didn’t make much sense. Some experts weighed in suggesting that testing is “not a suitable alternative to vaccination.”

Other health experts that spoke with the publication blamed the unvaccinated for the current rise in infections and the emergence of the Delta variant. “Those who are not vaccinated are responsible for the transmission we are seeing in this country and would be responsible for the disruption they caused to the workplace if they exposed or infected somebody else.”

Whatever the cause, the consensus is that these new measures are inadequate and make little sense. Biden had little to run on in the 2020 presidential election, but his promises for beating the coronavirus were arguably central to his victory. With inflation already occurring and economic trouble on the horizon, Biden can’t afford the mixed messaging that’s hindering any cohesive policy.