COVID-19: CDC Releases New Guidelines Regarding Outdoor Face Mask Usage

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidelines on Tuesday showing which activities that COVID-19 vaccinated citizens may enjoy, including attending small outdoor gatherings without face coverings.

The new recommendations detail many situations in which fully vaccinated citizens may forgo wearing a face mask, but emphasized their continued use in most indoor settings and crowded outdoor areas.

“Today is another day we can take a step back to the normalcy of before,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do. Today, I’m going to tell you some of the things you can do if you are fully vaccinated.”

The new recommendations say fully vaccinated individuals can engage in the following activities without wearing face coverings:

• Attending small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated family and friends.
• Attending small outdoor gatherings with a mixture of fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
• Walking, running, hiking or biking outdoors alone or with members of their household.
• Dining at outdoor restaurants with friends from multiple households.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said that “the risk of infection outside is really minimum. If you’re vaccinated, and you’re outside, it’s even less.”

Fully vaccinated people may also attend “a crowded, outdoor event, like a live performance, parade, or sports event,” as long as they remain masked.

Walensky urged fully vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors, citing there are 50,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, but said it is “safe for those who are fully vaccinated to return to the activities they love doing inside while wearing a mask.”

The CDC website says “Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or two weeks after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

The new guidelines suggest that fully vaccinated individuals continue wearing masks when in public spaces, when gathering indoors with unvaccinated people from more than one household, when visiting unvaccinated high-risk individuals or in an outdoor setting or venue where masks are required. The updated CDC guidance recommends that fully vaccinated people continue to avoid medium or large-sized gatherings.