The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear face masks, but the mask conflict at stores isn't going away.
As vaccinated Americans begin to take off their masks and retailers update their masking policies, the debates and outbursts related to mask wearing (or lack thereof) are expected to continue, experts told USA TODAY.
Retailers that have dropped mask rules for vaccinated people have said they don't plan to interrogate people or request their vaccination cards at the door and will instead rely on the honor system. The growing list includes Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Starbucks, Target and CVS.
But what adds to the confusion – and could fuel a new round of mask battles – is that in some cases, state and local mask mandates conflict with retailers’ revamped policies, which they say are based on new mask guidelines released by the CDC Thursday. The guidance says fully vaccinated people, for the most part, no longer need to wear masks indoors and don’t need to wear masks outdoors, even in crowded spaces.
