CDC: Fully Vaccinated People No Longer Need To Wear Masks, Socially Distance In Many Indoor Situations
(CBSDFW.COM) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is updating its guidance to say that fully vaccinated people can forgo their masks and social distancing in many indoor situations. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the new guidance during a White House COVID-19 briefing.
"Today, CDC is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people," Walensky said. "Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or fully vaccinated. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things you have stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense of normalcy."
Walensky explained this is due to the downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases, scientific data on the performance of vaccines and the understanding of how the virus spreads.
There are some exceptions.
People are still asked to wear masks on *airplanes, *buses, *trains and *healthcare facilities.
People with compromised immune systems should talk to their doctors about what's best for them.
Unvaccinated people still remain at risk and it's recommended to still mask up.
"I don't know how people are going to be able to keep tabs on it," Dallas resident Daminica Richard said. "Even knowing who has Covid or who doesn't — whose walking in somewhere still sick — I don't know how they'll be able to regulate this at all."
Richard says she'll still continue to wear a mask in certain situations.
"If it's a lot of people or you're definitely not six feet apart I feel you should definitely be wearing them still," she said.
As far as private business go, they can enforce their own rules.
"If you can't come in a store without wearing a mask… I'll wear a mask," Eric Wright said.
The CDC director said there's always a chance the agency might have to change their recommendations, depending on the current state of COVID. She continues to stress the importance of vaccinations and reaching herd immunity.
