Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that vaccinated youngsters will be allowed to remove their masks at outdoor camps this summer, The New York Times reports.
- “If we have authorization for 12- to 15-year-olds, and they can get vaccinated before going to camp, that’s what I would advocate, so they can take their masks off outdoors,” she said, according to The New York Times.
The comment was a hint that federal officials are close to authorizing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for young people aged 12 to 15 years old, according to The New York Times.
The Pfizer vaccine is currently approved for anyone 16 years old and up. Earlier this week, reports surfaced that federal drug regulators would likely approve the Pfizer vaccine for those 12 to 15 years old, according to NPR.
- Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said a ruling would come “shortly.”
The announcement about children ditching masks outdoor at camps comes weeks after the CDC said fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their masks when outside and participating in activities like walking, jogging, biking, eating at an outdoor restaurant or attending a small gathering with other vaccinated people, as I explained for the Deseret News.
However, fully vaccinated Americans should still wear masks at sporting events, live concerts, parades, barbershops and movie theaters, Axios.