People who are fully vaccinated may resume activities without wearing a mask or cloth covering for the nose and mouth — as well as physically distancing from other people — but you are still strongly advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States to take steps to protect yourself and others if you travel, as you will still be required to wear a mask while aboard airplanes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States; and in transportation hubs in the United States such as airports and stations as two of many examples.
Vaccinated People No Longer Need Masks — Except When Traveling as Only One of the Exceptions
Additionally, international travelers who are fully vaccinated and arriving in the United States are still required to get tested within three days of their flight — or show documentation of recovery from the 2019 Novel Coronavirus during the past three months — and should still get tested between three days and five days after their trips.
Furthermore, you may still be required to wear masks or cloth covering for the nose and mouth — even if you are fully vaccinated — as stipulated by:
- Federal laws, rules, and regulations
- State laws, rules, and regulations
- Local laws, rules, and regulations
- Tribal laws, rules, and regulations
- Territorial laws, rules, and regulations
- Rules, and regulations of local businesses
- Guidance at workplaces
What the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is Still Learning
At the time this article was written, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still learning how:
- Effective the vaccines are against variants of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, as early data show the vaccines may work against some variants but could be less effective against others.
- Well the vaccines protect people with weakened immune systems — including people who take immunosuppressive medications.
- Long vaccines for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus can protect people.
Summary
If you are a frequent traveler who is both an employee at a workplace and often patronizes businesses which still require that you wear a mask or cloth covering for your nose and mouth, the proclamation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier today may not mean much to you.
Interestingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released only within the past month a chart of choosing safer activities which people who are fully vaccinated are supposed to keep wearing their masks or cloth coverings for their noses and mouths for no fewer than ten activities.
I suppose that the aforementioned new directive which was released earlier today supersedes what seems to already be a chart with obsolete information…
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
