On May 13, 2021, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky informed the fully vaccinated that they can go without masks both outdoors and indoors in many circumstances. State and local officials are having to decide whether to follow suit. This marked a major turning point in America’s COVID Crisis. To date 585,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. That is more casualties than in WWI, WWII and Vietnam combined.
“We are asking people to be honest with themselves,” Walensky said on NBC’s Meet the Press which aired Sunday. “If they are vaccinated and they are not wearing a mask, they are safe. If they are not vaccinated and they are not wearing a mask, they are not safe.”
This decision was based on the current state of the pandemic in the U.S., along with evidence that vaccines are extremely effective in the real world. “That science, in conjunction with all of the epidemiological data that we have, really says now is the moment,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told NPR on May 13, 2021.
The CDC’s recommendation has created some confusion because it does not lift local mask mandates. States, municipalities and businesses can make the choice whether or not to follow it. There is no way to track if people have had the vaccine. Vaccine passports have been adopted in other countries but some Americans thin it would infringe on their freedoms.
“This was not permission to shed masks for everybody everywhere. This was really science driven, individual assessment of your risk,” Walensky said May 16, 2021 on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” For now, when you leave home, it makes sense to bring a mask with you in case the place you’re going still has a “mask required” sign on the door.