In an expected reversal, the CDC is now urging even vaccinated people to wear masks in some settings. Even if you’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, the CDC recommends you wear a mask in public indoor settings.
In new guidance for local leaders, the CDC is calling on all teachers, staff, students and visitors to wear a mask on campus, regardless of vaccination status.
The CDC is also calling on community leaders to encourage people to get vaccinated in order to stop the current surge in COVID-19 cases.
For much of the pandemic, the CDC advised Americans to wear masks outdoors if they were within 6 feet of one another.
When vaccination rates went up in April, the agency eased its guidelines on the wearing of masks outdoors, allowing fully vaccinated Americans to ditch face masks unless they were in a big crowd of strangers. In May, the CDC further eased its guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.
Mask guidance still calls for people to wear masks in crowded indoor settings, like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons, and homeless shelters.