On May 16th,the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed their guidance on face masks, saying that fully vaccinated people no longer need them in most places.
What are the new mask guidelines?
1.If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic.
2.Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
3.If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, find a vaccine.
It comes just over a year since the CDC first recommended that Americans cover their face and nose when in public and as new case weekly averages fall to lows not seen since last summer.So far, nearly two dozen states, including the former global hot spot of New York, have started to change their virus mitigation rules to reflect the new CDC guidance.
Delaware lifted its mask mandate on Friday, May 21, but it is strongly encouraging unvaccinated people to continue wearing masks. The state will continue to require mask-wearing in state buildings, on public transit, on planes, in schools, and in health care facilities and congregate settings such as prisons and homeless shelters.
Pennsylvania lifted its indoor and outdoor mask mandates for fully vaccinated people.
Philadelphia lifted mask requirements for fully vaccinated people in outdoor settings only on Friday, May 21. But indoor mask requirements will remain in place until at least June 11. The city says it will decide then how to proceed, depending on COVID-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations.
In New Jersey, fully vaccinated people do not have to wear their masks outdoors, but they are required to wear masks indoors.
As more and more people become fully vaccinated, many are wondering when life will return to normal. But before you ceremoniously throw away your face masks, experts warn that we’ll need to continue wearing them a while longer, especially in public settings.
“Face masks and physical distancing will need to continue into the foreseeable future,” answered by infectious disease specialist.And many health professionals have spoken out against the new guidelines. National Nurses United, a 170,000-member union of registered nurses, is asking the CDC to reverse its guidance, for below reasons.
1.COVID-19 cases are still high in the United States. Till May 24th,there are 32.3 million cases in USA.
2.Many people haven’t been vaccinated or are ineligible to be vaccinated. According to the CDC report there were 9,245 breakthrough cases in the U.S. as of April 26, when more than 95 million people had been fully vaccinated.To achieve herd immunity,at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated.
3.There’s no way to know who is fully vaccinated. The unvaccinated people could choose not to wear masks because proof of vaccination is not required.
4.It takes time for the vaccine to kick in. You won’t reach the nearly 95% effectiveness rate until two weeks after your second-dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
5.None of the vaccines offer 100% protection.You can still carry Covid after being vaccinated.Although the vaccines are incredibly effective (and were nothing short of amazing in terms of turnaround), they only offer 94% to 95% protection. There’s no way to tell who the 5% will be who don’t respond to the vaccine and will still be at risk for COVID-19.
6.Covid-19 will never be eradicated.The vaccine is not an automatic off switch for the pandemic.
To sum up,we’ll need to continue universal masking when in public, hand washing, avoiding large crowds and keep physical distance when we’re around others who are not fully vaccinated.