Starbucks and Walt Disney World are the latest companies to allow fully-vaccinated customers to ditch their masks in states that lifted mandates after change in CDC guidance
Starbucks and Walt Disney World are the latest major companies to allow fully vaccinated customers to take off their masks - unless local or state regulations say otherwise.
The announcement follows Friday's news that Trader Joe's, Walmart and Costco are doing the same thing.
Starbucks said in a statement on its website Friday that masks are optional for fully vaccinated customers starting Monday.
Walt Disney World's change took effect Saturday. On its website, Disney World said masks are optional in 'outdoor common areas' but are still required for all attractions.
Neither company has indicated that guests will need to show proof of vaccination to be allowed to go maskless, with Starbucks saying its bathrooms would also remain shuttered for the time being.
Trader Joe's, Walmart and Costco's mask-wearing policy changes for customers already went into effect.
Vaccinated Walmart workers can stop wearing them on May 18, and the company offering workers $75 to get vaccinated.
Starbucks said in a statement on its website Friday that masks are optional for fully vaccinated customers starting Monday
Walt Disney World said on its website that masks are optional in 'outdoor common areas' but are still required for all attractions.
A woman and two children wear masks at a Piggy Wiggly supermarket in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin on May 15. Many businesses have now lifted rules ordering customers to mask up +
New Yorkers - many of them maskless - enjoy Central Park on May 15. The CDC says vaccinated adults can now go mask-free outdoors, as well as in many indoor spaces
Tulip Festival participants pictured maskless in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday
Racing fans at the Preakness in Baltimore went mask-free on May 15. Spectator numbers were capped at 10,000 - a far cry from the 100,000 who usually attend
Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers attend a 'World Wide Rally for Freedom' in Concord, New Hampshire, on Saturday
Fans crushed into Houston's Minute Maid Park on Saturday to watch the Texas Rangers play the Houston Astros. The Lone Star State has lifted all COVID-19-related rules
One racegoer at the Preakness kept her mask on - but her three friends all decided to go bare-faced for a photo
A Walmart customer in Derry, New Hampshire in November 2020. The store announced it was lifting its rule saying customers must wear masks while shopping
A Costco store in Washington DC. The wholesaler has lifted its rule on masks, with vaccinated shoppers allowed to peruse its aisles bare-faced
A Trader Joe's shopper in New York in August 2020. TJ's has also lifted its mask rule - although customers must still cover up in individual states or counties with ongoing mask mandates
John Bechtold puts his face covering on as he passes his storefront sign that lists COVID-19 protective covering required to enter in his shop on Friday in Pittsburgh's South Side
A customer exits a corner market while wearing a protective mask in the SoHo neighborhood of the Manhattan
In half the states of the country, nothing will change. 14 states had already lifted their mask mandates, and 11 never had them in the first place
Both Costco and Trader Joe's said they would not require proof of vaccination, but employees at the grocery chain will still need to cover their faces.
Workers will need to answer 'yes' to a vaccination question in a daily health assessment in order to go maskless, the company said in a memo to employees posted on its corporate website.
'Integrity is one of our core values, and we trust that associates will respect that principle when answering,' the Walmart memo states. To get the bonus, workers will have to show their original vaccination certificate.
Walmart was one of the first retailers to mandate masks last July. Its move to allow vaccinated shoppers and workers to not wear masks could lead other chains to follow suit.
Tourists, some without face masks, walk the National Mall in Washington, DC on May 14
A group of young men are seen without face masks sitting in Washington Square Park, New York on May 13
Anni Bacchus joins coworkers from Atlanta Eats at a lunch on the Atlanta Beltline on Friday. The group said they were only sitting so close together because the CDC updated their mask guidelines for COVID-19 vaccinated people
People visiting the Santa Monica Pier wearing masks on Friday in Santa Monica
A number of visitors to the Santa Monica Pier were spotted wearing face masks on Friday
But several major chains, including CVS, Home Depot, Macy's and supermarket giant Kroger Co., said they are still requiring masks in stores for the time being, though some said they are reviewing their policies.
More than a dozen states quickly embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most cases.
But other states and cities and some major businesses hesitated amid doubts about whether the approach is safe or even workable.
As many business owners pointed out, there is no easy way to determine who has been vaccinated and who hasn't.
Industry leaders have warned of the potential for confusion and hard feelings among customers because of the varying rules from place to place. Even in states that have dropped mask mandates, stores and other businesses can still require face coverings if they want.
Plenty of people were still wearing masks along the Santa Monica Pier on May 14
Servers and diners in Santa Monica must still mask up. They're pictured on the famous promenade on May 14
The CDC's recommendations are non-binding, and actual policy is left for the relevant local authorities or employers to decide which means those in Santa Monica, pictured, must still wear masks
New guidelines, issued Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, essentially work on the honor system, leaving it up to people to do the right thing.
The CDC's recommendations are non-binding, and actual policy is left for the relevant local authorities or employers to decide.
It also doesn't apply to planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation, or to medical settings such as hospitals.
The situation has left CEOs and local officials caught in a dilemma -- whether to follow the scientific recommendations right away, or make sure people are comfortable with it.
Labor groups and others warned that employees at stores, restaurants, bars and other businesses could be left exposed to the coronavirus from customers and could be forced into the unwanted role of 'vaccination police.'
The City of Santa Monica has strict requirements for people to wear face coverings along with penalties for those who do not wear them when required
In Malvern, Pennsylvania, owner Sean Weinberg took down the mask signs Friday at Restaurant Alba, which he runs with his wife. He also emailed his employees to let them know they can forgo masks at work if they are fully vaccinated.
'It´s just a headache we don´t want to have to fight any more,' Weinberg said.
Half the states had mask requirements in place for most indoor spaces when the CDC issued its recommendations amid tumbling cases and rising vaccination rates.
Nearly 47% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and cases have dropped to their lowest level since last September, at an average of about 35,000 a day.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted in making the announcement that the vaccine has proved powerfully effective in preventing serious COVID-19 illness.
Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Ohio, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Kentucky, Washington, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado and Rhode Island announced plans to fall in line with the CDC guidance either immediately or in the coming weeks. Some cities, including New Orleans and Anchorage, did the same.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown said the new approach makes clear that vaccines are the fastest way to get back to doing the things 'we all love.'
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the guidance a 'game-changer.' And Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the change is 'a heck of a benefit.'
Other states, such as California, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Hawaii and Massachusetts, and cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul kept mask rules in place for the time being.
'We're frankly not there yet,' New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said.
Hawaii Governor David Ige said, 'We are unable to determine who is vaccinated and who is not vaccinated. The best mitigation measure is for everyone to wear a mask.'
Confusion over the guidance extended to the White House, where press secretary Jen Psaki said, 'I think we're still figuring out how to implement it.'
The CDC and the Biden administration had faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people in part to highlight the benefits of the shots and motivate other people to get inoculated.
Although no longer required outside, a sign advises visitors to wear masks at the Denver Zoo in Denver, Colorado, on May 13
Restaurant workers in places where mask mandates remain are finding themselves caught in the middle, said Jot Condie, the president of the California Restaurant Association. He said his phone has been 'blowing up' with reports of increasingly belligerent customers.
'The person who is not wearing a mask will say, @My president just told me that the CDC just issued guidance and I´ve been vaccinated and I´m not going to wear a mask,''he said.
Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said owners are concerned about being put in a difficult position.
'They're like, OK, now I have to deal with the honor system, hoping that that person that told me they´re totally vaccinated' is telling the truth, Dolch said.
The CDC announcement sent airline stocks soaring, though the guidance still calls for masks in crowded indoor settings such as planes, buses, trains, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, and says people should obey all local and state regulations.
A hild wears a mask while looking out the window of a beachfront restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. A number of states immediately embraced new guidelines from the CDC that say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most situations
Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson, South Dakota´s lone congressman, marked the announcement by sharing a video demonstrating how cast-off masks can now be used for things like suit pocket handkerchiefs, bookmarks or beer cozies.
'It seems too wasteful to just throw them away,' he said. 'I think I´ll have my mother make them into a quilt.'
Shelby Lofton, a reporter for WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, tweeted: 'So, I guess I´ll start wearing lipstick again. Also need to work on my poker face.'
In Detroit, a fully vaccinated Christoph Cunningham, 28, wore a mask as he rode an electric scooter to a bar for lunch and said he agrees with the relaxed guidelines.
'I have confidence in the science behind it all,' said Cunningham, who runs a catering business. 'I´ll eventually take my mask off more and more.'
Some states and some businesses are taking a wait-and-see attitude. Maskless people in Atlanta are pictured
A sign requiring a COVID-19 protective mask is required to enter is in front of Dee's Cafe, in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood
The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said the 1.7 million-member union is still trying to sort out what the change means for schools. Many school districts already ditched mask requirements in recent weeks, as had many states and cities, as virus numbers fell.
That meant the CDC announcement didn´t mean much in places like the tourist town of Branson, Missouri, which dropped its mandate early last month after several mask supporters were voted out of office.
'I think it just further supports the decision we made to lift the mask mandate,' said the town's new mayor, Larry Milton. 'It was dividing our community. We heard loud and clear from voters that they wanted the mask mandate repealed.'
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