SU Students React to Updated CDC Mask Guidelines

By Bradley Hoppenstein

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The CDC has announced new guidelines for vaccinated individuals regarding mask wearing. Fully vaccinated Americans can now attend small outdoor gatherings without a mask, with the CDC also outlining other outdoor scenarios where masks will no longer be required for vaccinated individuals. 

“Today is another day we can take a step back to the normalcy of before,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing by Biden administration officials. 

However, at Syracuse University, the Stay Safe Pledge that each student agreed to still requires students to wear a mask on campus at all times – indoors and outdoors, vaccinated or unvaccinated. 

SU has been administering vaccinations on campus for about a month now, with some students now asking the University to relax the Stay Safe Pledge in accordance with the new CDC guidance. 

“My comfort level is still to wear a mask around other people, regardless of if you’re outside or if you’re vaccinated,” said Noa Getzug, an SU junior. 

The University has made no comment on this latest update from the CDC, but it continues to urge students to get vaccinated when they can, especially with it now a requirement for the Fall 2021 semester. 

The CDC is still urging Americans to continue wearing masks indoors, noting that we’re still seeing about 50,000 COVID cases a day here in the U.S.