Last week, the CDC announced that they would be releasing a new set of guidelines regarding public mask wearing and fully vaccinated individuals.

If one has received all necessary dosages of the COVID-19 vaccine of their choice, those fully vaccinated individuals can now unmask at small outdoor gatherings or when dining outside with friends from different households. But, the CDC still seems it necessary for unvaccinated individuals to have their masks on at all times.

“I think that it’s pretty liberating for people who are vaccinated that are able to take off their masks with other vaccinated people,” said sophomore Taylor Jordan 

“If you are fully vaccinated and want to attend a small outdoor gathering with people who are vaccinated and unvaccinated, or dine at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households, the science shows if you are vaccinated, you can do so safely unmasked,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a virtual White House briefing last Tuesday on the 27th.

“Knowing that COVID-19 might go on for a long while is a bit exhausting, but I just wish politicians and lawmakers would make the right decisions when it came to rules and regulations, because I know they’ve been show less regard for the well-being of others because of the “economy,” said Jordan. 

However, the CDC still stresses that regardless of being vaccinated or unvaccinated, everybody should still be avoiding larger indoor gatherings. Although the number for a “large gathering” was not defined, simply avoid bring in multiple people from multiple different households in inclosed spaces. It is also recommended that regardless of the vaccine, that everybody proceeds to wear their masks.

People are considered fully vaccinated by the CDC two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Please continue to social distance and wear your masks. Nobody is immortal, and the more careless people act, the longer this will go on.