The US health authority has declared that those who receive the Covid-19 vaccine no longer need to worry about wearing a mask outside – but for those meeting in indoor public spaces, the restrictions remain in place.
The new guidance, issued on Tuesday by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), follows in the footsteps of the CDC’s previous mask-based health advice. Those initially argued that healthy individuals and those who were not wearing a mask should avoid everyone else.
Announcing the supposedly upbeat news, CDC director Rochelle Walensky on said that fully vaccinated Americans now can do some other outdoor activities, attend small outdoor gatherings, and dine in outdoor restaurants with friends from multiple households while not wearing a mask – even if some of the individuals present are not vaccinated.
However, even those fully vaccinated are still not allowed to fully enjoy their summer. Large events like concerts, theatre, or mass sporting events are out of question without masking up, Walensky declared. For many indoor activities, masking also remains required for everyone.
“It is also safe for those who’re fully vaccinated to return to the activities they love doing inside – while wearing a mask,” Walensky said. The not-so-new part of the guidance would supposedly remain in place until “widespread vaccination is achieved.”
The somewhat frustrating news for those fully vaccinated has been repeatedly foreshadowed in earlier public comments. In an interview with “confused” host of CBS This Morning earlier in the day, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, stressed that just because an individual got the vaccine, it does not mean they don’t need to weak masks – suggesting that everyone needs to carry on doing so until “we get back to normal.”
“The message is clear: ‘You’re vaccinated, guess what? You get to return to a more normal lifestyle. If you’re not vaccinated, you’re still in danger,” Becerra said in the same interview, seemingly contradicting himself on air.
The CBS host wasn’t the only one confused by the guidance, especially when it comes to wearing masks outdoors – which, in reality, is something not easily enforceable or universally followed across the states.
CNN’s in-house doctor, Sanjay Gupta, assured viewers last week that “for the most part, you don’t need to wear a mask outdoors.”
It has never been clear how police are supposed to fine individuals walking around maskless in the great outdoors, and the recommendations appears to be directed more at the individuals themselves. Reacting to Tuesday's news from the CDC, some Americans were quick to point they weren’t following some of those restrictive guidelines anyway.
I haven’t worn a mask outdoors the entire time. Consider me an enemy of the state. pic.twitter.com/ZAnCbRLFLt
“I haven’t worn a mask outdoors the entire time. Consider me an enemy of the state,” tweeted political commentator Dave Rubin, while the satirical site Babylon Bee offered an alternate "safety" chart to the one provided by the CDC.
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