New CDC guidelines say vaccinated Americans can now ditch the masks, with a few exceptions: Live COVID-19 updates<\/strong>
https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/health\/2021\/05\/13\/covid-vaccine-cdc-variant-fda-clots-world-health-organization\/5066504001\/<\/a> Fully vaccinated Americans can discard masks and the need for social distancing outdoors and in most indoors settings,\u00a0the CDC said Thursday<\/a>\u00a0in a dramatic announcement after months of mostly cautious measures.
The new guidelines announced by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, represent a major step toward a return to normalcy for a nation battered and at times divided by a pandemic that has lasted more than a year.
“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” Walensky said. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”
A person is considered fully vaccinated against the coronavirus two weeks after getting the second Pfizer or Moderna shot or the same length of time after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Answers to your questions:<\/strong>CDC lifts indoor mask guidelines for fully vaccinated people. What does it actually mean?<\/a>
The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters\u00a0but could ease restrictions for reopening workplaces and schools. In addition,\u00a0the agency will\u00a0no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors<\/a>\u00a0in crowds, possibly allowing for bigger capacities at sporting events.
“Today is a great day for America in our long battle with the coronavirus,” President Joe Biden said in the Rose Garden after the CDC\u2019s announcement. “It think it’s a great milestone.”
Biden was\u00a0meeting with GOP senators in the Oval Office when the CDC issued the new guidance\u00a0and told his guests they could ditch their masks, according to Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
\u201cThe president said let\u2019s just take them off, right here, in the meeting,\u201d Blunt told reporters.
Masks mandates got politicized under former President Donald Trump, who usually eschewed face coverings and mocked those who had them, and they became a source of discord in parts of the country.
The new recommendations from the CDC could also serve as an incentive for the tens of millions of eligible Americans who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots. Though more than 46% of the U.S. population of 330 million has received at least one vaccine dose, polls have shown about 25% don\u2019t intend to get inoculated.
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are at their lowest rate since September and deaths are at their lowest point since April 2020, averaging about 600 a day, but some experts still worry that the emergence of variants could disrupt that momentum and create another surge, especially as the virus continues to rage in other parts of the world.
Biden\u2019s administration had been under pressure to loosen pandemic restrictions as more Americans got vaccinated and infections diminished across most of the country.
Dr. Jay Wolfson, a public health expert at the University of South Florida, said the CDC had lost a great \u201ca great deal of credibility\u201d in the public\u2019s perception in part because its cautious\u00a0guidance often lagged behind the \u201cpragmatic realities\u201d of the pandemic.
Contributing: Joel Shannon, Maureen GroppeH<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPossibly all restrictions lifted as of June 11<\/h2>\n\n\n\n