Mask-wearing requirements lifted for Pennsylvania's fully vaccinated

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May 13—Federal health officials cleared the way Thursday for fully vaccinated people to go maskless indoors and outdoors without social distancing in most cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the new guidance during a briefing shown online, citing improved numbers of COVID-19's spread. The Pennsylvania Department of Health said the new CDC mask guideline goes into effect automatically because a March 16 department order defers to the CDC on masks for the fully vaccinated.

"Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment where we can get back to some sense of normalcy. Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, with scientific data on the performance of our vaccines, and our understanding of how the virus spreads, that moment has come for those who are wholly vaccinated."

Walensky recommended anyone with a compromised immune system speak to a doctor before going maskless. Businesses, state and local governments and other groups may still require masks, the CDC said. Masks will remain required at healthcare facilities.

"(Thursday's) guidance from the CDC affects only people who are fully vaccinated," Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said in a statement. "This is another incentive to get the vaccine that is now easily and conveniently available. Once 70 percent of Pennsylvanians over 18 are fully vaccinated, we can completely lift the masking order."

Shortly after Thursday's CDC announcement, Cooper's Seafood House in Scranton, took to Facebook to ask customers if fully vaccinated staff members should stop wearing masks. Most commenters said no more masks. Those who disagreed pointed out that not everyone is vaccinated yet, including children, and urged the staff to wear masks for the safety of those customers not yet vaccinated.

Restaurant owner Jack Cooper said staff will continue wearing masks for now until he has a better sense of what customers are comfortable with.

"We're just going to wait right now," Cooper said.

He said he is developing a card that staff can wear to show they are fully vaccinated.

Fully vaccinated means two weeks have passed since someone got their final dose of a vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses; the Johnson & Johnson Janssen requires only one.

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Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.