“In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.” AP News

Both sides highlight the political implications of the new guidance:

“The political implications of today’s announcement were inescapable. The president needs the pandemic to end, but he also needs the public to see that his policies and leadership have helped make it end. So far, his success has been measured mostly in numbers—in the falling infection rate and in the hundreds of millions of vaccinations…

“Liberating the people from their face coverings is a far more visible step—one that Americans will feel, physically as well as symbolically, in their daily lives. It will also ease one of the most polarizing issues of the pandemic. The harsh political reality is that people might be more willing to credit Biden for ending the mask mandates than they are for keeping them healthy.”
Russell Berman, The Atlantic

“What changed scientifically over the last two weeks? Nothing at all, but plenty changed politically. Congress and the media have pressed hard on the CDC’s assumptions that the vaccinated are still at risk in the pandemic, arguing — logically — that either the vaccines work or they don’t…

“And voila! Suddenly the guidance has changed, and not just for outdoors — where the risk of transmission is beyond microscopic even for the unvaccinated — but now for indoors as well, with exceptions for high-density situations. This new guidance has nothing to do with changing scientific data, but is the result of political pressure being brought to bear on the CDC and White House to quit undermining vaccinations by pretending they don’t matter.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air

Both sides also urge tolerance for those who continue wearing masks despite the new guidance:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday in new guidance that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks outside or in most indoor settings. What it didn't say, however, is you shouldn’t wear a mask or you can’t wear a mask or you're entitled to mouth off about other people’s masks. Hundreds of corpses of people who died of COVID-19 in New York City are still lying in refrigerated trucks – and the few Americans who may appear overly cautious are being mocked…

“Some people may go on wearing masks forever. They may be immunocompromised, anxious, or simply respectful of the horrors of the last 14 months that have scarred tens of millions, especially frontline workers, with PTSD. They may want to avoid allergies or the flu. Or they may just be smart, like the people who ignored CDC advice and started wearing a mask in early 2020. Whatever they are thinking, leave them alone.”
Jason Sattler, USA Today

“It’s a (mostly) free country and if you want to keep on wearing a face mask because you think it could help you avoid catching a disease, go for it. The data supporting such an assumption, particularly in the case of cloth face masks is dubious at best, but I’m not about to make your fashion choices for you. I have no intention of accepting this as ‘the new normal’ but you’ll all have to decide such things for yourself…

“There is [a] legal element to this question that hasn’t been dealt with yet. 18 states and Washington DC all have laws on the books that prohibit wearing any sort of face-covering in certain places or under specific circumstances. Since the pandemic hit, all of them have conveniently ‘forgotten’ about these laws rather than throwing everyone who leaves their home in jail… If I had to guess, the modification of these laws will be the choice for most states. If people are choosing to wear a mask for health reasons and not going around knocking over liquor stores, it’s harmless enough.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air

Other opinions below.