Pennsylvania Adopts CDC's Relaxed Mask-Wearing Guidelines For Those Fully Vaccinated
WASHINGTON (AP/KDKA) — Pennsylvania is adopting the CDC's newly relaxed mask-wearing guidelines, meaning fully vaccinated people don't have to wear masks in most places.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health says masks are still required for people who aren't vaccinated until 70 percent of Pennsylvanian adults are vaccinated.
In a striking move to send the country back toward pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday moved to ease indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.
The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools, and other venues — even removing the need for masks or social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.
UPDATE: If you are fully vaccinated against #COVID19, you can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, incl. local business and workplace guidance. More: https://t.co/FJMon7WlFO
— CDC (@CDCgov) May 13, 2021
The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds. The announcement comes as the CDC and the Biden administration have faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people — people who are two weeks past their last required COVID-19 vaccine dose — in part to highlight the benefits of getting the shot.
Despite the CDC's guidance, people still have to follow federal and local laws as well as follow mask mandates in businesses and workplaces.
People KDKA talked to said they're ready but leary.
As for kids, the CDC told CBS News that they still need to wear face masks since they're treated as unvaccinated unless they are 12 and up and fully vaccinated.
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