NEW YORK (AP) â The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines April 27 on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans donât need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.
And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some cases, too.
The new guidance represents another carefully calibrated step on the road back to normal from the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 570,000 people in the U.S.
For most of the past year, the CDC had been advising Americans to wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of each other.
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Anxiety free interactions with family and friends may feel like a quaint relic from a bygone era, but as COVID-19 vaccines criss-cross the continent, the door to better days may finally be opening if only slightly.
With around 37 per cent of the population fully vaccinated south of the border, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines Tuesday that offer inoculated individuals a tiny taste of freedom from the masks that have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. Being fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, means two weeks have passed since a person received the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or since the one and only dose of Johnson & Johnson’s offering.
Donna Anderson, left, walks with her friend Christine White, Tuesday, April 27, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. Both women said they are fully vaccinated and have felt comfortable recently in not wearing masks when they are outdoors. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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CDC says many Americans can now go outside without a mask
FILE - In this Wednesday, March 3, 2021 file photo, people wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk through a shaft of light on a street in Philadelphia. On Tuesday, April 27, 2021, U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers, and those who are unvaccinated can go without a face covering outside in some cases, too. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person sits in Bryant Park after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new guidelines regarding outdoor mask wearing and vaccination during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan, New York City, New York, US, April 27, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]
US health officials said Tuesday that people who have been fully vaccinated and have waited at least two weeks after their last shot don t need to wear masks outdoors when alone, with members of their household and other vaccinated family and friends or in small gatherings.
The CDC also said vaccinated people can gather in small groups outdoors without masks even if the group includes unvaccinated individuals.