California will not align itself with the CDC’s most recent mask guidance, meaning fully vaccinated people will still have to wear masks indoors until June 15.

June 15 is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s target date for a full state reopening and the next four weeks would gives businesses “time to prepare” for the coming changes in regulations.

“Until June 15, when California plans to fully reopen the economy, California will keep our existing guidance around masks in place,” California Health and Human Services said in a statement Monday. “This four-week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue our relentless focus on delivering vaccines, particularly in underserved communities.”

On Thursday, May 13, the CDC announced during a White House briefing that wearing masks in most indoor settings is safe for fully vaccinated people.

The exceptions to the new mask suggestions were densely populated public places such as public transportation and hospitals.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing Thursday. “We have all longed for this moment where we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

Walensky acknowledged public confusion over the announcement and later clarified on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press, saying, ““This was not permission to shed masks for everybody everywhere.”

While California relaxed its mask regulations enough to allow vaccinated people to go maskless in outdoor settings and indoor gatherings with other vaccinated people, those regulations will still not apply for public indoor settings for another month.

As of this writing, L.A. Public Health has not addressed CHHS’s mask announcement, but last week said Los Angeles cannot make stricter regulations than the state allows.

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