The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a major announcement on Tuesday, April 27, stating that wearing a mask is not necessary, when outdoors and not in large crowds, if you’re fully vaccinated.
The mask guidance states: Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer need to wear a mask outdoors while walking, running, hiking, or biking alone, or when in small gatherings, including with members of their own households. Masks are still necessary for crowded outdoor venues like sports stadiums, the C.D.C. says.
Because of the extraordinary progress we’ve made in the fight against COVID-19, the CDC made a big announcement today: If you are fully vaccinated — and if you are outdoors and not in a large crowd — you no longer need to wear a mask.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 27, 2021
Social media went into a complete frenzy debating whether this was the right move to make. On the other hand, anti-maskers jumped at the news. President Biden also took to Twitter to celebrate this moment in the pandemic. He tweeted: “Because of the extraordinary progress we’ve made in the fight against COVID-19, the CDC made a big announcement today: If you are fully vaccinated — and if you are outdoors and not in a large crowd — you no longer need to wear a mask.”
Biden set July 4 as a target for when people could get together for backyard picnics with a sense of normalcy, and both the new mask guidance and his remarks were geared to encouraging people to continue getting vaccinated. As of late, there are at least 2.78 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines administered per day. And while there is a large push to get vaccinated, there is still a large portion of the country that is uninterested in receiving the vaccine, keeping us still a long way away from herd immunity. According to a Monmouth University poll conducted between April 8 and April 12, 43% of GOP respondents said they’ll never get the coronavirus vaccine.
With an assortment of movements varying from pro-mask, anti-mask, pro-vaccine, or anti-vaccine, this large announcement made by the CDC can seem almost contradictory to the progress goals the Biden administration is hoping to have with the unceasing coronavirus pandemic.
I think a lot of people are (subconsciously or not) conflating the CDC saying you no longer have to wear a mask outside if you're fully vaccinated with conservative media suggesting you should be shamed if you choose to continue wearing a mask, and that is not super helpful!
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) April 28, 2021
Louis Pietzman tweeted: “I think a lot of people are – subconsciously or not – conflating the CDC saying you no longer have to wear a mask outside if you’re fully vaccinated with conservative media suggesting you should be shamed if you choose to continue wearing a mask, and that is not super helpful!”
