The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC Mask Guidelines is now lifted, according to recent reports.
USA TODAY reported that the CDC announced on Thursday new masking guidelines, stating that fully vaccinated Americans generally don't have to wear masks indoors.
In addition, the agency said too that fully vaccinated people need not wear masks outdoors, even when they are in crowded places.
Along with these new guidelines, the CDC emphasized, are some exceptions. The said announcement signifies a major shift though in recommendations and a major relaxing of mask restrictions that people in the country have had to live since COVID-19 became a main part of American life about 15 months back.
New CDC Mask Guidelines
During a White House briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director said, any individual who is fully vaccinated can take part in both indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, minus the need to wear mask or physical distancing.
If one is fully vaccinated, she explained, he can start doing the things he had stopped doing due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, health experts say, the new CDC mask guidelines may be an encouragement for more people to get their vaccine by enticing them with what they described as "tangible benefits," although may add to the confusion as well, of mask etiquette in the country.
Places Where People Need to Wear Mask
According to the new CDC mask guideline, completely vaccinated individuals need to wear a mask in health care settings, transportation enters like buses, planes and trains traveling into, and in or outside of the US, as part of the federal mask mandate that had been extended until September 13.
The CDC also said that people who had been fully vaccinated need to wear a mask or practice social and physical distancing in places required by tribal, state, federal, local, or territorial rules, regulations and laws, including local businesses and workplace guidance.
Meaning, fully vaccinated individuals may still need to put a face covering on, depending on their place of residence and where they're going.
Some company owners may follow the CDC masking guidelines, although others may be more indisposed to lift their own mandate.
COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy
On its website, the CDC said researchers are still learning how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are against the coronavirus variants, how well the jabs shield people who have weakened immune systems, and how long these vaccines can shield people.
It appears like a lot of change all at the same time, said associate research scientist Rachael Piltch-Loeb, at New York University School of Global Public Health, and a Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health preparedness fellow.
She added that it remains unknown what the effectiveness of the vaccine will look like if recommendations of wearing mask and social distancing are dropped. To ignore a sense of carefulness indoors is quite big of a jump "at this point in time," she elaborated.
According to public health expert, Dr. Jay Wolfson, from the University of South Florida, the shift comes after the health agency had lost a huge deal of credibility in the perception of the public throughout this global health crisis, partly because the CDC's guidance was frequently overly cautious.
Often, its guidelines on behaviors like hand-washing and mask wearing, explained Wolfson, covered behind the "pragmatic realities" of this pandemic.
The CDC, said Piltch-Loeb, has blown to its credibility over the past year. There's a lot, she added, to unpack there in both timing and decision-making, as well as rationale from what the agency is doing, although they are stuck in terms of balancing and tension between distinct needs and population standards.
A similar report is shown on CNBC's Television's YouTube video below:
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