The top US public health agency has said fully vaccinated people could forgo face coverings in almost all indoor and outdoor settings, a significant loosening of social distancing guidance that president Joe Biden hailed as a “great milestone” in the fight against the pandemic.
The latest update expands guidance from late April that allowed fully vaccinated people to go without face coverings in most outdoor settings. Before Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended fully vaccinated people still wear masks in a crowded outdoor setting like a concert or sports event. That restriction has now been dropped.
Americans who received the final shot in a vaccine regimen at least two weeks earlier can now safely engage in almost all indoor activities without wearing a mask, the CDC said on Thursday.