CDC recommends wearing masks indoors regardless of vaccination status

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is encouraging people to wear masks to protect against the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus as well as prevent possibly spreading it to others.

If you are fully vaccinated, the CDC says you can participate in many of the activities that you did before the pandemic but wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.

Wearing a mask is most important if you have a weakened immune system or if, because of your age or an underlying medical condition, you are at increased risk for severe disease, or if someone in your household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe disease, or is unvaccinated.

If this applies to you or your household, you might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission in your area.

You should continue to wear a mask where required by laws, rules, regulations, or local guidance.

The CDC says if you haven’t been vaccinated yet, find a vaccine.  In general, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, including severe illness and death.

COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe disease and death from variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 currently circulating in the United States, including the Delta variant.

Infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. When these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild.