Topline
The CDC significantly loosening its mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated Americans on Thursday, but millions of people across the U.S. remain under orders to keep masking up in public, with some state and local officials saying it's going to take far more people getting vaccinated to consider lifting the mandates.
The CDC's latest guidance doesn't overrule local mask mandates.
Key Facts
Officials in New Jersey and Hawaii have said they are reviewing the new guidance, but have not decided to lift statewide mandates at this time.
Indianapolis' mandate will remain in place, with the head of the Marion County Public Health Department saying in a statement: "the outlook is good – but efforts to get more people vaccinated and reduce the impact of COVID-19 continue."
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, plan to keep mandates in place despite Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dropping the statewide mandate.
Jackson, Mississippi, is in a similar position, where the mayor is keeping a mandate in place despite one not existing at the state level.
The CDC's updated guidance says fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks or socially distance in almost all circumstances, but the guidance doesn’t overrule existing state and local health orders.
Contra
The governors of several states quickly said after the CDC announcement that their mandates would be loosened to reflect the new guidance, while Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said his state would lift the mask mandate on May 19.
What We Don't Know
Heading into Thursday, 23 states had mask mandates in place. It's unclear at this point which direction many of those states will take after the CDC announcement.
Key Background
The CDC's latest change in guidance represents a major shift from the largely incremental announcements it's made in recent weeks, like late last month when the agency said fully vaccinated Americans don't need to mask up while outdoors and socially distanced. This new guidance also comes amid concerns about growing vaccine hesitancy, while only 35.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated. There are also concerns about how the new guidance would possibly be enforced, since it's only supposed to apply to fully vaccinated Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday afternoon accepting the new guidelines will also likely mean embracing an honor system, since it depends "on people being honest enough to say whether they are vaccinated or not."
Tangent
The United Food and Commercial Workers—the largest U.S. union for grocery and retail workers—released a statement Friday calling the new guidance "confusing" and saying it "fails to consider how it will impact essential workers."
Further Reading
CDC Says Vaccinated People Can Largely Stop Wearing Masks Indoors And Social Distancing (Forbes)
Fully Vaccinated Americans No Longer Need To Wear Masks Outside Except In Crowded Settings, CDC Says (Forbes)
