Jan Massie is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, like more than 120 million Americans and can now stop wearing the mask, according to the latest guide from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English). ).
However, even as temperatures rise in his native Alabama, he is still protecting his face.
According to her,
the benefits of putting on the mask are too good to take off.
The retired teacher did not catch coronavirus, flu or colds while masked during the pandemic.
Nor has he received any hostile pushback in public for wearing a mask.
So why quit now?
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"I have used the mask where it was not really needed," explained Massie on Saturday, who lives in the suburbs of Birmingham.
"Many people, more than I expected, still use it," he added.
The country already has more than 589,000 deaths from COVID-19 and more than 33 million cases
, according to data from NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
But the successful vaccination campaign, with more than a third of the population already immunized, has rapidly lowered the number of infections and deaths from the virus.
The CDC director defended this Sunday the decision to facilitate the guidelines for the use of masks for fully vaccinated people, emphasizing that the increasing political pressure had nothing to do with the abrupt change of these rules.
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"It would have been easier if the science had evolved a week earlier and I didn't have to go to Congress to make this statement. I rely solely on science. And it evolved over the last week," explained CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, on FOX News.
With this scenario, millions of people are deciding whether to continue wearing masks, and they have innumerable reasons to take either option.
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Many are willing to turn the page and leave the pandemic behind.
Get rid of the masks and get back to normal.
However, others are still concerned about newer variants of the virus and the remote possibility that they will contract the virus and pass it on to others, although the risks of both scenarios are greatly reduced for those who are fully vaccinated.
The CDC director cautioned that even with the new guidelines, it is still too early to "declare victory," but added that she was "cautiously optimistic" about the pandemic.
“We have to remain humble.
We have had too many curveballs in this pandemic.
But I am cautiously optimistic that we are in a good place at the moment, that cases continue to decline,
"he said.
Temperature control of a young woman with a mask who arrives at Universal City Studios in California, on Friday, May 14, 2021.AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
But he recalled that, although the guide has changed, "it is not necessary for everyone to start taking off their masks."
“There is no order to remove it.
What we are saying is that it is now safe, "he said."
Go at your own pace, talk about it with your family and in your businesses to eliminate them when necessary, "he recommended.
Denise Duckworth chose to remove her mask while strolling through a revived French Quarter in New Orleans, where jazz musicians and tourists have returned to the streets.
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"I've always been against masks, and I think all their rules have been hypocritical and confusing," Duckworth, visiting from Kansas City, Missouri, told the AP news agency.
Alex Bodell from Ithaca, New York, stood out from the crowd because of the black mask that covered his nose and face, with which he felt most comfortable and confident.
"I feel a lot more comfortable, and I think I'm having a lot more fun being fully vaccinated, regardless of the mask I'm wearing," he
said.
Last week, the CDC reported that fully vaccinated people - those two weeks past their last dose of the COVID-19 vaccine - can stop wearing face masks outdoors in crowded places and in most indoor settings. and give up social distancing.
Partially vaccinated or unvaccinated people should continue to wear masks, according to the agency.
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The guide still calls for masks in crowded indoor environments, including buses, planes, hospitals, prisons, and homeless shelters.
But it clears the way for the reopening of workplaces, schools and other places that were put on hold during the pandemic.
Without a mask during an outdoor event in Fargo, North Dakota, college student Andrew Kodet said he has been vaccinated and will follow CDC guidelines.
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"If you've been vaccinated and you've worked hard to prevent the spread of the disease, it's time to start this rebuilding process," argued Kodet, 20.
"There is nothing political about me," he added.
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Near Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts, epidemiologist Vanessa Li has not passed two weeks into her second dose of vaccine and continues to wear her mask even outside, particularly when there are many other people around.
"I don't think I dare to take it off because it has been a habit and internationally there have been different strains and different levels of risk," explained Li, 25, from Somerville.
"International travel is on the mend and is already frequent, so I'm not really sure what risk everyone is taking at the moment," she added.
Wearing a mask while brewing espresso at his coffee shop in San Francisco, California, Justin Lawrence stated that you must adhere to local rules that require covering your face for indoor activities.
"It causes small business owners to have to keep an eye on people again, and you can't tell by looking at someone if they are already vaccinated,"
recalled Lawrence, who is a co-owner of Fayes Coffee in the Mission District.
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Raquel Mitchell recovered from COVID-19 in December and does not want to receive the vaccine against the virus, which she does not trust due to its rapid development.
He still wears a mask and takes other precautions, like dining al fresco at restaurants near his home in the East Harlem area of New York and asking for plastic utensils or bringing your own.
When will you feel safe enough to relax?
"I don't know. Never," Mitchell said. "It's going to be very difficult for me," he added.
With information from Fox News and AP.
