The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer required to wear face masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors in most scenarios. This is the latest set of guidelines to come from the office.
Americans who have taken two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or have taken the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine may now return to normal life and forego wearing masks and social distancing except when they are in health care settings, at businesses that require them, or on airlines, the CDC noted.
"We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy," CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during the Thursday media briefing, as per NBC News. She said that the new guidance for those who are fully vaccinated came about "based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the scientific data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads."
According to The Blaze, the new CDC guidelines also indicate that those who have been fully vaccinated, meaning that two weeks have passed since their final dose of the two-dose vaccine or the single dose vaccine, are now allowed to participate in large or small indoor and outdoor activities without having to wear a face mask or practice social distancing.
Calling the new guidelines an "exciting and powerful moment," Dr. Walensky paid tribute to the medical frontliners who helped in the "rapid administration of three safe and effective vaccines." About 154 million Americans or 46% of the population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The new CDC guidelines are applicable to over 177 million Americans, who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Another milestone was achieved this week in the fight against COVID-19, as the FDA and the CDC this week approved the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15, a separate report from The Blaze revealed. Thursday marked the eligibility of children aged 12 and older to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. However, some parents remain reluctant to get their children vaccinated.
"It's a perfectly normal thing to be concerned about your children and to question. And that's the reason why you want to get them as much information as you possibly can," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading disease expert said. While he acknowledged that children are at low risk for getting severely ill from COVID-19, some kids are still at high risk, which is why he believes that parents should get their children vaccinated.
Just as new CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans was released, a new poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has revealed that only 52% have "a great deal of trust" in the CDC. NPR reported that the poll also showed only 37% of Americans said they trusted the National Institutes of Health or the Food and Drug Administration.
While the survey did not delve into the reasons behind the public's distrust, the poll's conductors believe it is critical to find out why and improve public trust as the country bounces back from the pandemic.
