CDC Eases Outdoor Mask Rule: NYC Can 'Work With That,' Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — Fully vaccinated New Yorkers — and Americans as a whole — got the go-ahead to venture outside without masks under new CDC guidance.

The advice unveiled Tuesday allows people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to go maskless outdoors unless they're in a big crowd with strangers.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, when asked during his daily briefing about the then-expected rule, expressed openness to the change.

"We can certainly work with that because we’ve said all along the difference between outdoor and indoor is really so much of this ballgame, and so outdoor is a much, much better situation,” he said.

About 2.3 million adult New Yorkers — or 35 percent of all eligible — are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the latest city data.

De Blasio and city health officials had yet to issue specific guidance for New Yorkers, but the CDC advice likely will significantly change daily life for many city dwellers.

The once-troublesome sight of maskless New Yorkers along sidewalks, park paths and stoops will become more common.

The advice also says people, regardless of whether they're fully vaccinated don’t have to wear masks outdoors when they walk, bike or run alone or with members of their household. They also can go sans mask in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people.

But New York City, as one of the most densely populated places in the country, may not go completely maskless so quickly, de Blasio said. He and city health officials encouraged New Yorkers to think about outdoor spaces before they take off masks.

"Even if it's not required to wear a mask outdoors, it may be still reasonable and rational for someone to do it even if they're fully vaccinated," Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner, said. "So, we should use common sense and keep up masks in situations where there are more people and less ability to maintain distance.

"The rule of thumb I use is any time you're close enough to be breathing in someone else's air, you know, that's a situation where I'd strongly consider it."

The CDC still recommends mask wearing for unvaccinated people who have yet to receive both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson formula.

And everyone should keep wearing masks at crowded outdoor events such as concerts or sporting events, the CDC says. People, vaccinated and unvaccinated alike, under the guidance still need to wear masks in indoor public places, such as hair salons, restaurants, shopping centers, museums and movie theaters.