CDC says vaccinated people don t need masks indoors. Pennsylvania will follow suit Sam Ruland, York Daily Record
CDC announces fully vaccinated people don t need masks, with a few exceptions
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Federal health officials said Thursday that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks or physically distance indoors or outdoors in most circumstances setting the stage for Pennsylvania to loosen its mask mandates and distancing guidelines for vaccinated residents. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House COVID-19 briefing. We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.
Updated 12 mins ago
What to Know
Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam announced Thursday the CDC’s guidelines will go into effect immediately for Pennsylvania. Unvaccinated people will still be required to wear masks until 70 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 and older are fully vaccinated.
Health officials in Philadelphia, which sets its own COVID guidelines in addition to the state, have not yet revealed whether the city will immediately follow the CDC’s new guidance on mask wearing.
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In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the CDC eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.
Federal health officials said Thursday that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks or physically distance indoors or outdoors in most circumstances setting the stage for Pennsylvania to loosen its mask mandates and distancing guidelines for vaccinated residents. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House COVID-19 briefing. We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.
Following the CDC s announcement, Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said the commonwealth would follow suit and immediately adopt the new measures allowing for vaccinated residents to now gather without face coverings.
Mask Mandate Essentially Lifted in Pennsylvania, Effective Immediately
Fully vaccinated people in Pennsylvania (except for Philadelphia) no longer have to wear masks in most places effective immediately, the state’s Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam announced Thursday afternoon following a similar announcement from the CDC.
Earlier this afternoon the CDC significantly eased mask guidance saying that fully vaccinated Americans could stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings. They also removed the need for social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.
“Today’s guidance from the CDC affects only people who are fully vaccinated,” she wrote.