Vaccinated Americans don’t need a mask most of the time, CDC says

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wanted to avoid its new mask guidance leaking ahead of time, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said Thursday.

The CDC announced Thursday that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, in most circumstances.

In response to reports that the White House did not have much advance warning that the CDC was planning to update its guidance today, Collins said, “Well, it apparently was the case that the CDC was making this decision and didn’t want to have any big sort of leaking happen, so this is sometimes the way things go.”

White House officials, like many Americans around the nation, seemed to embrace the new guidance, Collins noted.

“It’s clearly electrified the country,” Collins added. “The White House played a pretty good role in that by changing their schedule and having the President and the vice president come right on out without their masks into the Rose Garden, to indicate – in a very photogenic way – what’s happened.”

Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” has tested positive for coronavirus, the show announced in a tweet Thursday evening. 

Due to Maher’s positive test result, the show’s taping scheduled for Friday has been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date, the show said. 

“Real Time production has taken every precaution following COVID CDC guidelines,” the show said. “No other staff or crew members have tested positive at this time.”

CNN has reached out to HBO for comment. HBO is owned by WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN.

The CDC’s guidance that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks indoors is being adopted by Nevada, including in the state’s casinos.

Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a measure on May 3 ordering that the state’s mask mandate must mirror CDC guidelines, and his office confirmed that this directive includes the agency’s recommendations issued Thursday.

The state’s critical gaming industry – whose major Vegas casino floors were allowed to return to 100% capacity just this month – also will be allowed to let their guests to go without masks if they choose.

Michael Lawton with the Nevada Gaming Control Board tells CNN, “The Board neither requires nor prohibits gaming licensees from confirming patron vaccination status. Licensees are encouraged to post signage with the latest CDC mask guidance for vaccinated and unvaccinated guests.”

The board says casinos are allowed to have tighter mask restrictions than what the CDC recommends for their guests and employees.

CNN has reached out to MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn.

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said he’s smiling and he hopes new mask guidance for vaccinated people will encourage more Americans to get immunized.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors in most circumstances.

Collins said he is enjoying the freedom of not having to wear a mask.

“I got no mask on. I’m smiling. I’m looking at other people’s faces I haven’t seen in a while,” he said.

Collins encouraged those who still have not received the Covid-19 vaccine to get vaccinated.

“This is something we all were hoping for and we are here, but we’ve got to get here together, which means get everybody on board, with signing up, rolling up your sleeve. If you haven’t done that yet, you’re going to want to do it now,” he said.

The indoor mask mandate in North Carolina will remain in effect while the state reviews new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Dory MacMillan, Gov. Roy Cooper’s press secretary.

The CDC announced Thursday that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances.

Vistors wear masks at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA on May 3.

Disney welcomed new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on mask and social distancing for fully vaccinated people, calling it “extremely positive news.”

On Thursday, the CDC announced that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances.

Washington state – where the first Covid-19 case inside the United States was diagnosed – is expected to drop its economic restrictions June 30, the governor announced Thursday.

“We have more work to do, but this should give us a good path forward to reopen our state,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a news conference.

The governor said the state economic reopening will happen even sooner if at least 70% of residents 16 years of age and older get at least one vaccine dose before the deadline. The only circumstance that could delay the reopening past June is the unlikely event that intensive care capacity reaches 90%.

Inslee also announced that the state will change its mask mandate to align with guidance issued Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Businesses will no longer be required to demand mask wearing of people who are fully vaccinated. Exceptions will be made for medical settings, prisons, schools, and public transportation.

The governor said the state currently does not plan to require businesses to check the vaccination status of their customers, but businesses will have the right to do so if they choose.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a Coney Island parks reopening event on April 9 in New York City.

New York City is reviewing the new mask guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing the importance of masks in schools, public transportation, health care and congregate settings, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Thursday.

He called it “a monumental day in the fight against COVID,” noting the importance of getting vaccinated.

Students wait in a socially distanced single file line at Medora Elementary School on March 17 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Children too young to be vaccinated will still have to wear masks when they are indoors and around others, even if older kids and adults are free to take off face protection once they are fully vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that fully vaccinated people can feel free to take off face masks in most situations, as they are very safe from becoming infected and from infecting others with coronavirus.

“But, you know, one of the things that’s also important, that’s happened most recently, is the approval of vaccines for children 12 to 15 years old,” added Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The CDC signed off on using vaccines in that age group Wednesday.

And vaccine makers are also testing vaccines in younger children – in groups such as 6-9-year-olds, 2-6-year-olds and infants and toddlers, Fauci said. They’ll soon ask the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize or approve vaccinating those younger age groups.

“Then by the end of the year we hope to vaccinate anybody. Right now, the 12- to 15-year-olds can get vaccinated by the Pfizer vaccine,” Fauci said.

Watch:

People receive a COVID-19 vaccination shot at the Broadway Junction subway station in Brooklyn on May 12 in New York City.

More than 266 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the US, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The CDC reported 266,596,486 total doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered – about 78.6% of the 339,165,445 doses distributed. 

That’s about 1.9 million more doses reported administered since Wednesday, for a seven-day average of about 2,088,962 doses a day.

The data shows that more than 154 million people have received at least one vaccine dose and 118 million have now been fully vaccinated.

Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

It’s going to be hard to tell who is vaccinated and free to go into stores, schools and other sites without a mask – and so some organizations may keep mask mandates, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said early Thursday that fully vaccinated people should feel free to take off masks for most activities, even indoors and in crowds.

Asked how store owners and others will know whether their customers are safe without masks, Fauci said it will be difficult. 

“They will not be able to 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,” Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“And by the way, even though we will not be… mandating vaccine passports from the federal level there are going to be instances … there are going to be institutions, clearly, that are going to be saying — and that could be airlines, we know certain colleges are also saying, if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not going to come on campus to classes in real time,” Fauci added.

“There are going to be some institutions that might be saying the same thing. So although the federal government wouldn’t be mandating to have a passport, proving you’re vaccinated, there may be organizations that will do that.”

In other circumstances, Fauci said, there’s little need to police behavior. “So the situation has changed, so there’s no reason at all for storekeepers to have people who have accidentally walked in without a mask, I mean, there’s no reason not to have that at all,” said Fauci, who is a senior adviser to the White House and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“People feel very put upon if you are essentially judging them on the basis of whether they have been vaccinated,” Fauci added. “I think there is going to be a pushback against questioning somebody when they walk in.”

The people at risk will be those who have not been immunized, he said. “If you drop the mask mandate then you may have an increase in infection among those that are not vaccinated.”

Watch more:

The CDC has joined the FDA in recommending the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to 12- to 15-year-olds, opening up nearly 17 million more Americans eligible to be vaccinated.

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta answered your questions about the latest US vaccination news and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated mask guidance that mostly loosens mask restrictions for fully vaccinated people.

Watch:

The coronavirus pandemic isn’t over yet, but Thursday’s updated guidance for fully vaccinated people is a major step in the right direction, Dr. Anthony Fauci said. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, in most circumstances.

The US is now one step closer to a return to normal life, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Jake Tapper. 

Watch:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi puts her mask back on after a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN she is not changing the rule requiring masks on the House floor following updated guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on masks and social distancing.

“No,” Pelosi said, then asked, “Are they all vaccinated?”

Some background: The CDC announced today people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 briefing. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

Minister for Health Greg Hunt delivers a COVID-19 update in the Blue Room at Parliament House on May 13 in Canberra, Australia.

The Australian government said it is in talks with Moderna to produce its Covid-19 vaccine domestically, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Thursday.

In a statement, Hunt said that the government is in discussions with Moderna to establish a manufacturing facility in Australia using mRNA technology.

“Onshore manufacturing would ensure a secure, long-term supply of Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccines,” Hunt said.

This comes after Australia purchased 25 million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, including 10 million doses to be delivered this year and 15 million doses of booster shots in 2022.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called the latest guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on masks and social distancing “common sense.”

“We Alabamians have already embraced this idea, and I am glad the CDC has made it official. Aside from the COVID-19 vaccine being safe and effective, it is also allowing us to do the things we love and enjoy. Alabama is open for business. Alabama classrooms are open for students. Y’all, Alabamians are getting back to living. So, Alabama, roll up your sleeves and get the vaccine!” she continued.

Ivey dropped the mandatory mask mandate in the state in April. 

The Biden administration’s transportation mask mandate will stay in place through Sept.13, Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein tells CNN, despite new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on wearing masks indoors.

The move, some fear, could tee up more fights over mask rules on commercial flights. The Federal Aviation Administration has received more than 1,300 reports of unruly passengers on flights in the last three months, a significant uptick according to the agency. 

Earlier Thursday, the CDC director announced new guidance that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under special circumstances.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 13 in Washington, DC.

President Biden praised the updated US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask guidelines for vaccinated people, but urged those who are not yet fully vaccinated to continue wearing their masks to protect themselves.

The President also used a part of his remarks to make a clear distinction between what fully vaccinated people can do and what those who are no fully vaccinated cannot do with regards to mask-wearing.

“Now, I want to be clear about what the CDC is saying. And what the CDC is not saying. The CDC is saying that it’s concluded that fully vaccinated people are at a very, very low risk of getting Covid-19,” Biden said.

“Therefore, if you have been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. Let me repeat, if you are fully vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask. But if you have not been vaccinated or if the you’re getting a two-shot vaccine and you only had your first shot, but not your second, or you haven’t waited the full two weeks after your second shot, you still need to wear a mask,” he continued.

“Get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do. It’s vaccinated or mask,” the President said. “Get vaccinated.” 

Biden thanked the American people, and once again expressed sympathy for those who lost loved ones to Covid-19, using his now familiar phrase: “A day will come when the memory of the loved one you lost will bring a smile to your lives before it brings a tear to your eye.” 

The President said he and the vice president were “pleased,” but “we’re not surprised.” 

“Pleased but not surprised, because the simple truth is this: the American people have never, ever, ever, ever let their country down,” he said. 

CNN’s Nikki Carvajal contributed reporting to this post.

President Biden praised the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated mask guidance that mostly loosens mask restrictions for fully vaccinated people, calling it a “great milestone.”

“I think it’s a great milestone, a great day. It’s been made possible by the extraordinary success we have had in vaccinating so many Americans, so quickly,” he said.

Biden went on to recognize the efforts of doctors, physicians and many more in the health care industry who have worked swiftly to vaccinate Americans.

“Over the past 114 days, our vaccination program has led the world and that’s due to the incredible hard work of so many people,” he said. “The scientists and researchers, the drug companies, the National Guard, the US Military, FEMA, the nation’s governors, doctors, nurses, pharmacists. Everyone who has moved heaven and Earth to get as many shots into arms of as many Americans as possible. It’s truly been an all hands on deck for the country effort.”

President Biden is delivering remarks on his Covid-19 response after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky called it an “exciting and powerful moment” and said the science supports the updated CDC guidance.

Read more about the new guidance here.