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Hereâs when fully vaccinated people can drop their masks â and when they need to keep wearing them â according to the CDC
By Martin Finucane Globe Staff,Updated April 27, 2021, 8 minutes ago
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For the fully vaccinated, a mask may no longer be necessary for walking outdoors.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Fully vaccinated people can drop their masks when theyâre doing outdoor activities, including exercising, barbecuing, or dining at a restaurant, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
Fully vaccinated people can unmask in the following scenarios, the CDC said:
When theyâre walking, running, hiking, or biking outdoors alone or with members of their household;
Print article As more Americans are vaccinated against the coronavirus and a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the risk of outdoor transmission is low, many people are wondering: Do we need to keep wearing face masks outside? The short answer is that masking outdoors can be “optional,” says Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. While he says people should still generally don masks indoors, Sax believes statewide mandates for wearing masks outdoors may no longer be necessary. “The science of the viral transmission is advanced enough that we really don’t want to be kind of confusing people by forcing them to wear masks in places where really they’re at minimal risk,” he says.
People walk along the Commonwealth Mall wearing masks. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
As more people get vaccinated against COVID-19, they re asking more questions about social distancing rules and mask mandates.
In a blog post this week, Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women s Hospital, argued that it s likely time to end the outdoor mask mandates.
Sax joined WBUR s
Highlights from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.
Interview Highlights
On why he is arguing that it might be time to end outdoor mask mandates
What we ve learned a lot in the past year-plus on the science is how the virus is transmitted. And one of the things we ve learned, fortunately, is that outdoor transmission is exceedingly rare, and that s because of the unbelievable ventilation of just being outside. It s estimated that being outside offers a hundredfold more ventilation than being inside in an office and maybe a thousandfold more than being in
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