Fully vaccinated Americanscan go outdoors without masksin small social settings, the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesdayin new guidance.Once people have received all doses of a COVID-19 vaccine andwaited the two weeks to reach fully efficacy, they can safely go walking, running, hiking or biking outdoors without a mask; attend small outdoor gatherings with vaccinated or unvaccinated people and dine outdoors with people from multiple households, the health agency said.However, fully vaccinated peopleshould still wear a mask indoorsand in crowded outdoor settings such as concerts or baseball games. Andunvaccinated people should continue to wear masksin all settings, except for at home.“If you are fully vaccinated, things are much safer for you than those who are not yet fully vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing on Tuesday.The shift in guidance is based on growing data that shows that the chance of COVID-19 transmission while outdoors is low, combined with the increase in Americans who are fully vaccinated, she explained.People with and without masks walk around Central Park in New York City.Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty"There’s increasing data that suggests that most of transmission is happening indoors rather than outdoors — less than 10% of documented transmission in many studies have occurred outdoors," Walensky said. “We also know that there’s almost a 20-fold increased risk of transmission in the indoor setting.““Coupled with the fact that we now have 37% of people over the age of 18 fully vaccinated, and the fact that our case rates are now starting to come down, motivated our change of guidance.“RELATED VIDEO: The Importance of the COVID-19 Vaccine and the Call for ‘Unity’Walensky added that she hopes the change in guidance will encourage more people to get vaccinated as some Americans still express hesitancy around the vaccines.According to a CBS News pollfrom this week, 22% of people said that they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine, and 18% said they might.“I hope this message is encouraging for you,” she said. “It shows just how powerful these vaccines are and our efforts to end this pandemic and why we are asking everyone to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. The science is clear. The COVID-19 vaccines have been through many transparent rigorous processes that continue to prove they are safe and effective. If you haven’t already, please get vaccinated.“As of April 26, nearly 54% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 95,408,925 are now fully vaccinated,according to CDC data.As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
Fully vaccinated Americanscan go outdoors without masksin small social settings, the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesdayin new guidance.
Once people have received all doses of a COVID-19 vaccine andwaited the two weeks to reach fully efficacy, they can safely go walking, running, hiking or biking outdoors without a mask; attend small outdoor gatherings with vaccinated or unvaccinated people and dine outdoors with people from multiple households, the health agency said.
However, fully vaccinated peopleshould still wear a mask indoorsand in crowded outdoor settings such as concerts or baseball games. Andunvaccinated people should continue to wear masksin all settings, except for at home.
“If you are fully vaccinated, things are much safer for you than those who are not yet fully vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing on Tuesday.
The shift in guidance is based on growing data that shows that the chance of COVID-19 transmission while outdoors is low, combined with the increase in Americans who are fully vaccinated, she explained.
People with and without masks walk around Central Park in New York City.Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty
“There’s increasing data that suggests that most of transmission is happening indoors rather than outdoors — less than 10% of documented transmission in many studies have occurred outdoors,” Walensky said. “We also know that there’s almost a 20-fold increased risk of transmission in the indoor setting.”
“Coupled with the fact that we now have 37% of people over the age of 18 fully vaccinated, and the fact that our case rates are now starting to come down, motivated our change of guidance.”
RELATED VIDEO: The Importance of the COVID-19 Vaccine and the Call for ‘Unity’
Walensky added that she hopes the change in guidance will encourage more people to get vaccinated as some Americans still express hesitancy around the vaccines.According to a CBS News pollfrom this week, 22% of people said that they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine, and 18% said they might.
“I hope this message is encouraging for you,” she said. “It shows just how powerful these vaccines are and our efforts to end this pandemic and why we are asking everyone to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. The science is clear. The COVID-19 vaccines have been through many transparent rigorous processes that continue to prove they are safe and effective. If you haven’t already, please get vaccinated.”
As of April 26, nearly 54% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 95,408,925 are now fully vaccinated,according to CDC data.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
