AUGUSTA, GA ( WJBF) — The CDC now says people who are fully vaccinated can go without a mask indoors and outside.
The new guidance from the CDC comes as more than a 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated.
AU Chief Medical Officer Dr. Phillip Coule said the number of people getting vaccinated makes now a safe time to relax mask requirements.
” We’re now confident in both the number of people being vaccinated as well as the safety and efficacy of these vaccines to tell you that its okay without wearing a mask now even if you are around people that are not vaccinated,” Coule said.
However, not everyone is eager to take their masks off.
” I’m still kind of afraid because there are so many people who refuse to take the vaccine at all and those are the ones that I’m concerned about,” Dwight Bass said.
” You don’t know who had their shot or whatever. A lot of people don’t even know that they have the virus and they wouldn’t say anything if they did. So, I’m just going to be cautious and wear mine,” Willie Bowes said.
Dr. Coule said those with a compromised immune system should still be cautious.
” We don’t have enough data yet for people for example who are undergoing cancer treatment to say that those people don’t need to wear a mask despite being vaccinated,” Coule said.
The CDC does recommend still wearing masks in crowded, indoor settings like buses and airplanes or in hospitals.
