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 Illinoisans have Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s permission to go maskless
– in certain settings, and only if you’re at least two weeks out from your
second COVID-19 shot.
News that Illinois will follow new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
guidance on masks and social distancing both indoors and outdoors came as
Illinois entered Pritzker’s “Bridge Phase” to a full reopening of the state
economy. He predicted a full reopening on June 11, but said earlier that mask
mandates would remain.
“The governor believes firmly in following the science and intends to revise his
executive orders in line with the upcoming CDC guidelines lifting additional
mitigations for vaccinated people,” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said.
“The scientists’ message is clear: if you are vaccinated, you can safely do much
more.”
 The CDC removed mask mandates for fully vaccinated people outdoors, even in
large gatherings, and in most indoor settings. Crowded indoor settings such as
planes, buses, homeless shelters and prisons still require masks for everyone.
But workplaces, schools and most other indoor settings can be mask-free – again,
for those fully vaccinated.
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“We have all longed for this moment — when we can
get back to some sense of normalcy,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the
director of the CDC.
In Chicago, restaurants, bars and other businesses do not need to
include fully vaccinated people against their capacity counts, Mayor
Lori Lightfoot said. Both Chicago baseball teams plan to open
sections for those fully vaccinated, boosting their total attendance
limits.
Nationally, over 46% of the population have received at least one
shot and more than 117 million are fully vaccinated. In Illinois,
62% have one shot and 36.5% are fully vaccinated as the COVID-19
seven-day positive test rate was at 2.7%
The Pfizer vaccine on May 12 was approved for ages 12 to 15, which
is expected to create a new bump up in vaccinations after the pace
had slowed.
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