CDC Lifts COVID-19 Mask and Social Distancing Restrictions for Fully Vaccinated Americans

The CDC announced Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans would no longer use masks or social distance in outdoor and indoor environments after months of primarily protective measures, a move that President Joe Biden called a "milestone."

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has released new guidance that marks a significant milestone toward normalcy for a country that the pandemic has weakened and divided for more than a year.

CDC announces new COVID-19 measures

"Anyone who has been fully vaccinated can engage in any indoor or outdoor activity, big or small, without wearing masks or physical distancing. If you are fully vaccinated, you will resume activities that you had put on hold due to the pandemic," Walensky said, as per USA Today. Two weeks after administering the second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the same amount of time after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, an individual is deemed completely vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The new guideline still requires masks to be worn in crowded indoor areas like planes, buses, hospitals, jails, and homeless shelters for those not fully vaccinated. But it could loosen limits on reopening workplaces and schools. In addition, the CDC will no longer advise fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks in crowded places, potentially making for larger audiences at sporting events.

According to Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Biden spoke with GOP senators in the Oval Office when the CDC provided the latest guideline and advised his visitors to ditch their masks. Per The Hill, Blunt told reporters, "The president said let's just take them off right here, in the meeting."

Biden calls new mask mandate a "great milestone"

President Biden took a rare victory lap on Thursday to fight against the coronavirus, hailing recent federal guidance that says people who are fully vaccinated don't need to wear masks as a "great milestone." Biden praised the CDC's latest guidelines, which was revealed only an hour before he spoke while standing at a lectern in the Rose Garden without a mask on.

The President, who has spoken about the pandemic with a more serious tone in the past, applauded the US vaccine effort's pace, saying that its progress in such a brief timeframe has resulted in fewer limitations for Americans. Many who have not been vaccinated can continue to wear masks so they can get vaccinated.

So far, only about a third of the population has been completely vaccinated. Biden admitted that it's impossible to say who's been vaccinated and who hasn't and that the American society is dependent on one another to act responsibly.

Biden's handshake advice proved to be more stringent than the CDC's revised guidelines. On the other hand, he urged those who no longer wear masks to be kind to those who do.

Despite previous CDC guidelines saying wearing masks outside was unnecessary, the President has been ridiculed for wearing masks outdoors. During an early afternoon Oval Office meeting with Senate Republicans on infrastructure reform, he began implementing the CDC's latest guidance. Around the same time, the CDC declared its policy.

As of Thursday, approximately 59 percent of adults in the United States had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to CDC results, more than 45 percent of adults are completely vaccinated, NY Post reported.