After over a year of mask-wearing and social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the end may finally be near with new CDC guidance.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a COVID-19 briefing on May 13. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”
Under the recently announced guidance, people who are fully vaccinated with both shots against COVID-19 will no longer need to wear a mask or socially distance unless the state law requires it. This decision was due to the increasing vaccination numbers across the country and the general effectiveness of vaccines, as Walensky cited in her briefing which convinced the CDC to issue this guidance.