Biden Says “Long Way To Go” Gives Permission To Go Outside Without Mask If You Are Fully Vaccinated

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden, relayed the new CDC guidance on COVID mask wearing outdoors.

“Earlier today the CDC made an important announcement. Starting today, if you’re fully vaccinated and you’re outdoors, and not in a big crowd, you no longer need to wear a mask. I want to be absolutely clear if you’re in a crowd like a stadium or a conference or a concert you still need to wear a mask,” said Biden.

The CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people (including children) from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Participate in outdoor activities and recreation without a mask, except in certain crowded settings and venues
• Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
• Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States.
• Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
• Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
• Refrain from routine screening testing if asymptomatic and feasible

The CDC says small, private gatherings and visits to public indoor spaces likely represent minimal risk to fully vaccinated people. Therefore, the level of precautions taken should be determined by the characteristics of the unvaccinated people present, who remain unprotected against COVID-19.

Although the risk of COVID-19 infection may be minimal to the fully vaccinated person themselves, vaccinated persons should be mindful of the very low potential risk of transmitting the virus to others if they become infected, especially if they are visiting with unvaccinated people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 or visiting with unvaccinated people who have people at increased risk for severe disease in their own households.