These are Some of the Retailers Easing Mask Mandates After the CDC Update

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that fully vaccinated people would not have to cover their faces indoors anymore or stay 6 feet away from others in most cases.

Of course this has led to a lot of questioning on whether certain stores would allow maskless customers to enter.

Some of the retailers who are easing mask mandates after the CDC announcement include Target, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CVS, and Starbucks.
These companies will not require fully vaccinated customers to wear masks inside stores, except when required by law.

Walmart, Costco and Trader Joe’s are also allowing customers to shop without mask if they are fully vaccinated. Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s and even Publix, were among the first to allow mask-free shopping.

Home Depot, Gap and Ulta Beauty are among the retailers that have said they would maintain their pandemic precautions while they monitor the latest developments.

CVS said it would still require its employees to wear masks while at work. Chipotle restaurant workers will still be required to wear masks, according to Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laurie Schalow.

Target’s employees who are fully vaccinated will not have to wear masks.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they receive the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci have explained the move over the weekend.

“We are asking people to be honest with themselves,” Walensky said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” which aired Sunday. “If they are vaccinated and they are not wearing a mask, they are safe. If they are not vaccinated and they are not wearing a mask, they are not safe.”

“This was not permission to shed masks for everybody everywhere. This was really science driven, individual assessment of your risk,” Walensky said.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci reaffirmed the guidance on CBS’s “Face The Nation” where he remarked, “There’s been an accumulation of data showing the real world effectiveness of the vaccines,” Fauci said. “It’s even better than in the clinical trials, well over 90% protecting you against the disease.”

“Even though there are breakthrough infections with vaccinated people, almost always the people are asymptomatic, and the level of virus is so low, it makes it extremely unlikely, not impossible but very, very low likelihood they are going to transmit it,” Fauci said.

Some feel the new guidance will encourage more people to get inoculated. As of this past Saturday, roughly 47% of the U.S. population have received at least one vaccine dose, according to the CDC. About 37% are fully vaccinated, says data from the agency.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.