CDC Relaxes Guidelines on Outdoor Mask Wearing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday it was loosening its guidance on whether Americans should wear face masks outdoors.
The agency is no longer advising that Americans who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 need to wear masks while engaged in physical activity outside their homes, according to guidelines posted on the CDC’s website. Agency Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky elaborated on the guidelines in an afternoon press conference.
“If you are fully vaccinated and want to attend a small, outdoor gathering with people who are vaccinated or unvaccinated, or dine at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households … you can do so safely unmasked,” Walensky said.
She asserted those who had been vaccinated could take a similar approach to indoor activities, saying, “We know that masked, fully vaccinated people can safely attend worship services inside, go to an indoor restaurant or bar, and even participate in an indoor exercise class.”
The new guidance comes after a chorus of medical experts questioned why the agency had failed to revise its guidelines, despite Covid-19 becoming less virulent in most states. More than 140 million Americans — a little more than 42 percent of the population — had been at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Tuesday, according to the CDC. A little less than 100 million people — or 29 percent — have been fully vaccinated. More than 30 million have already contracted the virus.
CDC guidelines state that patients have not been “fully vaccinated” until two weeks after they receive the second dose of vaccines developed by Pfizer or Moderna, or the first — and only — dose of a vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, meaning the new guidance will not apply to most people.
A study published in March found the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna were 80 percent effective after their first dose, and about 90 percent effective after the second dose. Separate studies have pegged the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s efficacy at a little less than 70 percent against the strain of the virus dominant in the United States.
Watch above via CNN.
