âThe Situation Has Changedâ: Fauci Explains CDCâs Shift In Mask Mandates I think this is a very important step in the direction of trying to get back to some degree of normality, the doctor said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nationâs top infectious disease expert, championed the recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to relax mask mandates for fully vaccinated Americans, saying the situation in the U.S. had changed amid a vaccination blitz and plummeting numbers of COVID-19 infections.
âThe data thatâs accumulated now is that clearly the infections are going down,â Fauci told CNN host Jake Tapper on Thursday. âTheyâre averaging about 36,000 a day right now, which has gone down about a third. As you mentioned, 58% of people have at least one dose â shot of a vaccine â and greater than 40% are fully vaccinated, so the situation has changed.â
President Joe Biden’s administration took its biggest step yet towards declaring victory over the coronavirus pandemic – announcing that fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their masks in most settings, even indoors or in large groups. Masks are still required on buses, trains and other forms of public transportation, as well as airports.
To drive vaccinations, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is offering vouchers for a Shake Shack burger or sandwich for residents who got their shots, while Six Flags Entertainment will give away 50,000 tickets to its Illinois theme parks to newly vaccinated residents in the state.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is keeping a stay-home order in force into early June. CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline said early data from laboratory tests of their second-generation Covid-19 vaccine suggests good protection against some virus variants.
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When members of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionâs independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met, on Wednesday, to weigh the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech
COVID-19 vaccine in children aged twelve to fifteen, they went through something of a public-health catechism. Was the vaccine safe for these children? Yes, judging from clinical trials, with more than two thousand children, and also from the experience of the millions of people sixteen and older who have received the vaccine worldwide. And was the vaccine effective in these children? Yes, in the trial, the children appeared to be almost completely protected from
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Total U.S. coronavirus deaths as of this morning: Monday,
581,754; Tuesday, 582,153; Wednesday, 582,848; Thursday, 583,685; Friday, 584,487.
At long last, the masks can come off.
Fully vaccinated individuals meaning those who are 14 days clear of their last dose of the vaccine may resume going about their lives as normal and without any restrictions, including not having to wear masks indoors, according to new guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.
Watch Hot Zone: New CDC guidance on indoor masks; teachers union wants full-time, in-person schooling
Posted May 14, 2021
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said that people vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer needed to wear masks in most indoor situations.
While the CDC said that masks could be largely dispensed with in workplaces and schools, the agency said masks should continue to be worn in crowded places, such as buses, airplanes and hospitals.
The CDC had previously said that vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks outside, a stance that Dr. Anthony Fauci reiterated on Thursday.