CDC mask guidance draws clear line between vaccinated, unvaccinated

In the eyes of U.S. health officials, there are two groups of people: those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and those who are not. And they’re stepping up their efforts to get unvaccinated Americans to switch sides.

New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding when people can safely shed their masks make the benefits of vaccination abundantly clear. Instead of focusing on the serious and potentially deadly risk of COVID-19 to those who aren’t immunized, they emphasize the extent to which those who are can return to an almost-normal life.

“Over the past year we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the