CDC says people who are vaccinated no longer need to wear masks indoors
· May 13, 2021 · NottheBee.com

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control announced new guidelines that say vaccinated individuals can take off their masks in almost all indoor settings and outside in crowds.

The CDC also said fully vaccinated people no longer need to social distance.

"Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities – large or small — without wearing a mask or physically distancing," Walensky said. "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic."

The CDC is still recommending masks in crowded venues such as planes, public transportation, hospitals, and homeless shelters.

Around 154 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose and over 117 million have been fully immunized – over half of all adults in the nation.

The Pfizer vaccine was also approved Wednesday for use in children as young as 12.

The Biden administration has come under increasing pressure to relax restrictions in recent weeks given the sharp decrease in cases and the rising number of vaccinations. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said on a White House call with governors this week that leaders need to start showing trust in the vaccines.

"I would like to say that we have fully vaccinated people; we should start acting like it," said Cox. "And that's a big motivation get the unvaccinated to want to to get vaccinated."

Biden said his administration would "be moving on that in the next little bit."

Likewise, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of Florida said that ending restrictions such as mask mandates was "the evidence-based thing to do" when he removed all COVID-19 orders in the state last week.

"I think that's the evidence-based thing to do," he said. "I think folks that are saying they need to be policing people at this point, if you're saying that, then you're really saying you don't believe in the vaccines."


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