CDC Says Masks Not Needed For The Vaccinated [POLL]

NEW YORK — The United States took one more step toward normalcy when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people could go without masks in some indoor and outdoor environments.

The CDC said that people who were fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting. The exception would be, however, if it was required by federal, state or local rules and regulations. That includes local business and workplace guidance.

Additionally, the CDC said fully vaccinated people didn't have to get tested following a known exposure unless they are residents or employees of a correctional or detention facility or a homeless shelter.

According to a CDC graphic, among the activities fully vaccinated people can participate in unmasked are attending small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated family and friends and unvaccinated people, attending a crowded outdoor event, like a live performance, parade or sporting event, visiting a barber or hair salon, going to an uncrowded, indoor shopping center or museum and going to an indoor movie theater.

The CDC said that all travelers, even if fully vaccinated, will be required to wear masks on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within or out of the country and in domestic transportation hubs, such as airports and stations.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, so far, isn't ready to opt-in to the new CDC guidance.

"In New York, we have always relied on the facts and the science to guide us throughout the worst of this pandemic and in our successful reopening," he said in a statement Thursday.

The state is reviewing the guidance regarding masks and social distancing for vaccinated people in consultation with state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker and health experts in surrounding states, Cuomo said.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, following the CDC's guidance, urged the state "to follow the common-sense guidance of the professionals at the CDC who have helped keep us safe for the past 14 months and announce the full re-opening of schools and all restrictions on businesses be lifted."

He said the steady dropping of active cases, hospitalizations and deaths shows "we have undeniable proof that the COVID-19 vaccine works."

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran agreed that the state should immediately adopt the CDC's guidance on masks.

"The vaccine works and our residents need to return to normal life," she said.

The announcement did spur some confusion, especially because a majority of people in the country are still not vaccinated.

Medical organizations such as the American Society of Transplantation and the American Academy of Pediatrics expressed concern about the change in policy coming too soon with so many Americans not vaccinated, The Washington Post reported.

Concern was compounded by the fact that there's no mandated verification system of vaccination and people would have to rely on good faith that unvaccinated people will still wear masks.

When asked how business owners will know their mask-less customers are safe, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said they will not know.

"I mean, you're going to be depending on people being honest enough to say whether they were vaccinated or not and responsible enough to be wearing … a mask, not only for their own protection, but also for the protection of others," he told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Michelangelo Signorile, host of the Signorile Show on SiriusXM, wrote on Twitter that the CDC announcement of no mask indoors for vaccinated people will cause a lot of confusion.

He called it "A recipe for Karens Gone Wild."

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the subject. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.