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The top U.S. public health agency has said that fully vaccinated people can give up face coverage in almost all indoor and outdoor settings, a significant loosening of social distancing guidelines as cases of Covid-19.
The latest update expands the end-of-April guidelines that allowed fully vaccinated people to go without face covers. most outdoor environments. Prior to Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended that fully vaccinated people still wear masks in a crowded environment, such as a concert or sporting event. This restriction has been removed.
Americans who received the final shot on a vaccine regimen at least two weeks earlier can now safely participate in almost every indoor activity without wearing a mask, the CDC said Thursday.
“Anyone completely vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physically distancing themselves,” Rochelle Walensky, director of CDC, told a news conference.
The announcement will pave the way for a faster reopening of offices and schools, as states have removed pandemic-related restrictions and allowed people to travel and socialize more freely. Some states, such as Texas, have already abandoned their own mask requirements.
Walensky said masks would still be needed in certain settings with specific health guidelines, such as hospitals or air travel or public transportation.
The decision to loosen mask restrictions for fully vaccinated people comes amid a encouraging fall in new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations across the country as more people are vaccinated, Walensky said. The United States had averaged about 36,800 new infections a day over the past week, a drop of 23% from the previous week.
Andy Slavitt, senior coronavirus adviser at the White House, said Thursday that Covid-related deaths hover around 590 a day, the lowest since April 2020, when the pandemic was in its infancy. stages.
According to CDC data as of May 12, approximately 265 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the United States since the launch began in December. Nearly 59% of American adults have received at least one dose of vaccine. President Joe Biden has established a goal to reach 70% on July 4th.
Just over 35% of the entire American population has been completely vaccinated. A CDC panel this week recommended the BioNTech / Pfizer jab for use by 12- to 15-year-olds, paving the way for millions of teens to opt for a shot.
Anthony Fauci, one of Biden’s top coronavirus advisors, tried to calm some of the confusion over the use of outdoor masks for people completely vaccinated on Thursday.
“If you are in a totally crowded situation where people are essentially falling on top of each other, you will be wearing a mask. But at any other time, if you’re vaccinated and you’re out, put the mask aside, you don’t have to wear it, ”he said during an interview with CBS This morning.
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