Will you follow the new CDC guidelines that allow fully vaccinated people to immediately begin to go maskless both indoors and outdoors??
Top News Today
In a surprise announcement last Thursday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced that fully vaccinated Americans may now choose to go maskless whether indoors or outdoors — and that previously announced social distancing norms are no longer necessary. The only exceptions are that masks must continue to be worn on airplanes, trains, buses, and places that specifically require them.
“We have all longed for this moment,” Dr. Walensky said during a White House news conference last Thursday. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”
Too soon — particularly since America is nowhere near herd immunity yet??
Not surprisingly, the news to suddenly go maskless was not well received by everyone.
The governors of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia, and the mayors of New York City and Washington, DC (all Democrats), announced they need time to consider the ramifications before giving residents the green light to go maskless. The fear is that with so many Americans still unvaccinated, everyone will go maskless and no one will know who’s who.
This is “a monumental day in the fight against Covid,” said New York City’s Mayor Bill DeBlasio before warning that “masks will still be important for schools, public transportation, doctors offices, and more.”
However, Washington’s Gov. Jay Inslee, who usually wears a mask while speaking at his news conferences, welcomed the news and said his state would immediately incorporate the new federal guidance on going maskless.
“This is a heck of a benefit for people who have been annoyed by this mask,” Gov. Inslee said after removing his own mask. “This is a really good reason to get vaccinated. That shot is a ticket to freedom from masks.”
As expected, the CDC news was well-received by most Republican governors and mayors, some of whom (including Florida and Texas) had already lifted mask mandates as unnecessary regardless of vaccination status.
The new CDC maskless guidelines came on a day when the New York Yankees baseball team announced that 8 vaccinated members of its organization have tested positive for the coronavirus. The 8 infected Yankees include coaches, staff members, and a player who all received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine — proving that the vaccines are good but not perfect.
Is the coronavirus over to the point where it’s legitimately safe to go maskless again in society, or is the CDC bending to public pressure and lifting the mandate too soon? Will the new guidelines make it harder for the CDC to require masks again should the pandemic make a surprise resurgence?
More importantly, are you ready and feeling safe enough to go maskless in public once again?
OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
CDC: It’s time to go maskless again!
Thanks DJ. Was hoping you’d post about this topic this morning and as usual you did not disappoint. Your questions are on point and I’ll start by answering them:
No. the coronavirus ISN’T over to the point where it’s legitimately safe to go maskless again in society.
Yes, the CDC is indeed bending” to political/corporate lobbyists, AND “public pressure and lifting the mandate too soon. And the new guidelines will make it harder for the CDC to require masks again should the pandemic make a surprise resurgence.
Yes, I’m ready to take off my mask. But no, I don’t feel it’s safe enough to go maskless in public once again. And I won’t be doing so….not anytime soon anyway.