Getty Images. May 13, 2021 The CDC is expected to say people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to stop wearing masks indoors. This sign is out of date unless the situation is very crowded, and that could include a giant flea market. or a crowded train.
CDC:
“People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely stop wearing masks and social distancing in most circumstances, the CDC said Thursday May 13 in new guidance.
“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities – large or small — without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a briefing.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”
“The guidance still encourages wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.”
Paul Goldfinger, MD. “It’s important to know that vaccination makes most people immune to catching the virus, but they could possibly (very rare) become infected, have no symptoms, and pass on the virus in a crowd.
“In such a situation they should wear a mask and distance not to protect themselves but to protect those who have not yet been vaccinated.”
This notice is via the NY Post:
“The new announcement comes two weeks after the CDC said that fully vaccinated people could safely ditch their masks outdoors.”
From Dr. Fauci today:
“If you are vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask outside. We’ve got to make that transition,” the White House chief medical adviser told “CBS This Morning” on Thursday.
“It would be a very unusual situation, if you were going into a completely crowded situation where people are essentially falling all over each other, then you wear a mask. But any other time, if you’re vaccinated and you’re outside, put aside your mask. You don’t have to wear it.”
NOTE: The Governor of NJ will have to implement these CDC recommendations.
This is wonderful news and something we have all been waiting for. I live in mostly Asian Flushing, Queens, where mask wearing when you have a cold was commonplace. With the pandemic, people wore masks almost without exception. The NYT noted this in its survey of mask compliance and listed the place as #1 with the headline, “People in Flushing do not mess around.” Unfortunately, the pedestrian density in the middle of Flushing is one of the very highest in NYC and exceeds most of central Manhattan. So mask wearing may still be in order there.