The change in guidance comes as the highly transmissible Delta variant sweeps a nation that is still struggling to get enough shots in arms.
As the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, mask guidance is changing for everyone, including those who are vaccinated.
Few places are considering renewals of the policy, but experts suggest it’s wise for everyone—including the vaccinated—to wear masks in public indoor spaces.
There also isn’t enough data to declare one vaccine better than others against severe illness and death, experts say.
A new report stresses that only a complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can protect against this dangerous variant, which is now dominant in the U.S., U.K., and more than a dozen other countries.
Its mutations help it dodge the immune system. Researchers are scrambling to figure out if it is more dangerous or transmissible than Delta.
Science shows that even the most serious side effects for any vaccine, including COVID-19, occur within just a few weeks.
Spurred by the pandemic, scientists are studying the benefits of intranasal vaccines and what makes them more potent than shots in the arm.