Some of the country’s largest retailers will still require masks inside stores despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to loosen mask wearing for fully vaccinated individuals.
Business Insider reported Friday: “Macy’s, Target, and Starbucks are among those saying they’ll still make masks mandatory for shoppers and workers in their stores.” Other companies that told the publication they will keep their mask mandates for now include:
• Kroger
• Home Depot
• Publix
• Dollar General
The report also identified several companies that are evaluating their policies in light of the CDC announcement but have not yet made any changes:
• Walgreens
• CVS
• Gap
• Ulta
The report follows CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s announcement regarding the easing of mask mandates. Walensky noted that fully vaccinated people are still required to wear masks on modes of transportation such as es airplanes, buses, and trains.
“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” Walensky said told reporters during a Thursday press conference. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”
“This is an exciting and powerful moment, it could only happen because of the work of so many who made sure we have the rapid administration of three safe and effective vaccines,” she added.
However, some states such as New York are keeping mask mandates in place as state health officials review the CDC’s new guidelines.
“In New York, we have always relied on the facts and the science to guide us throughout the worst of this pandemic and in our successful reopening,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the president, reacted to the CDC’s announcement with a warning of his own: Parents should ensure that their children still wear masks while playing outside with friends to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“Yeah, the children do when they’re out there playing with their friends and, you know, and – particularly in an indoor situation, they do,” Fauci told CNN host Jakes Tapper on Thursday when asked if children should still wear masks.