Breaking: CDC relaxes mask guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans when outdoors
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday that fully vaccinated Americans can partake in some outdoor activities without wearing a mask.
People who have been fully vaccinated (and wait two weeks after receiving their second dose, when applicable) can exercise alone or gather with small groups outside without wearing a mask, the CDC has said. Eating maskless at an outdoor restaurant is also acceptable. However, the CDC said people should still wear a mask when in large settings such as concerts.
The CDC's guidance does not specifically mention privately-owned theme parks, ski resorts or beaches, which could be considered crowded outdoor spaces and therefore masks might still be recommended. We will be watching closely at TPG to see how local governments and private resort owners and operators react to the new guidance.
The CDC has said that masks "may not be necessary" for fully vaccinated Americans who are outside alone or with people from the same household. However, some areas may have public mask mandates that still take precedent, and there continue to be federal mask mandates at places such as airports.
This newest update comes more than a month after the CDC updated its guidelines to say that people who have been fully vaccinated could visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing. People who have been fully vaccinated can also avoid quarantine and testing if they've been exposed to COVID-19 but remain asymptomatic.
The CDC says these guidelines apply to people who have had both two-dose vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) or a one-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson), and it's been two weeks after they received the last dose.
The CDC also updated travel guidelines earlier this month, saying that fully vaccinated Americans can travel at "low-risk" to themselves.
At this time, nearly 100 million people in the United States have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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