i'm jeff bennet in for katy tur. breaking news just in from the white house, the covid vaccine and the cdc. the cdc is ready to start its briefing any minute now, and we expect the director of the cdc to make guidance. fully vaccinated americans no longer need to wear masks or social distance indoors or outdoors. we also learned president biden will speak from the rose garden at 4:35 eastern on the pandemic response. we'll, of course, bring you those remarks when they happen, but first this new guidance. there are caveats to this new mask-free guidance including health care centers, public transportation and businesses that have their own mask rules. but obviously this is huge news after a year of masks. joining me now for more on this are nbc news correspondent monica alba, nbc correspondent miguel brewster in chicago, dr.

vin gupta. thank you all for being here. i may have to cut you off if the briefing comes. give us a sense of what you expect dr. walensky to say, monica. >> this is quite different from the mask wearing we've become accustomed to over the last year. the cdc is expected to say if you are more than two weeks out from your second dose or your johnson & johnson shot, you can all but essentially get rid of them. that is if you're indoors or outdoors. they're going to say you are fully protected, and unless you're in a hospital or an airport or a specific business that requires them, they're going to say that people throughout this pandemic have worked so hard, been so careful, socially distanced, but the time has come with more and more people getting shots in arms that they can now not wear their masks. now, of course, a couple weeks ago, remember, the cdc updated their guidance for outdoors if you were fully vaccinated and if

you could maintain distance, but they said in crowds you should still probably wear them. they're going to change that today as well and say, again, if you're someone who is fully vaccinated, you can ditch your mask even if you're in a crowd, and then it's really this indoor question now which is going to affect a lot of things, namely workplaces, schools, and this is the biden administration coming out and saying we feel so confident in the number of people who have gotten vaccinated, but we want to continue to entice people to line up and get those shots in arms. because the more people that do, the more that life can return to some semblance of normalcy. that's what you're going to hear the cdc director talk about today, and we're told by somebody familiar with the remarks, she's expected to say something like this is the moment we have all longed for. this is what this has been building toward, but, of course, the white house has had different benchmarks and milestones that they hope for in terms of vaccination. they want 70% of all adults with one shot by the 4th of july.

that's when they say people can really gather, and it seems like that's going to hold a short month and a half from now. >> what's interesting, monica, is dr. fauci and president biden in different ways sort of telegraphed this was coming. on sunday dr. fauci said it's perhaps time for the cdc to loosen its guidance. then president biden in a meeting with governors suggested that at some point soon, is the phrase he used, there could be a new guidance on indoor masks. dr. gupta, put this in perspective for us. what is the result of this now one-year-long pandemic? >> while this is great, what does this signal for schools? how will they interpret this? events and large conferences. this is a signal that you can reach 100% mask freedom if you

get your vaccines. but how do they still incorporate a safe workplace? what they don't want is to create two different cadres, one that is vaccinated and one that is not. that's going to create all sorts of tensions. the key point here is going to be how are businesses, how are organizations going to interpret this. that's number one. will this get greater momentum than mandates once these are approved? i think that's a possibility. i think it will accelerate approvals for those younger than 12. remember, there is still a huge part of the population of those younger than 12 that are not yet eligible. i'll also say how do we define what is a dense workplace environment? the cdc says a dense working environment is a meat packing plant. what does that actually mean? i think greater clarity would be helpful. and lastly, airplane travel, you

still need a mask. i'm hearing from colleagues in the airline industry that they are eager to trial out vaccine bubble type paradigms here, maybe using some sort of vaccine certification system to get to 100% capacity and also to improve the psychology of safe travel. people want to feel like it's safe to get in an airplane cabin. now this will allow different industries to experiment, how do we do that? do we create mandates? do we use a certification system? this will be where we butt heads. >> doctor, you've done a lot of work with vexing health problems. it surprises me that these new mask guidelines, this is a heck of an incentive for people to get vaccinated who haven't yet chosen to do so. >> exactly, jeff. there is a ucla study that shows when you tie vaccinations to

lifting a restriction that people feel more incentivized to get their vaccinations. i think, again, this could be a signal hopefully to many people who are unvaccinated that if i get vaccinated, i don't have to wear a mask indoors. that's huge. it's a game changer, it's bold, it's evidence based, and i think it's going to really change a lot of the culture in bringing back some normalcy to our lives. >> shaquille brewster, you are in chicago where they're vaccinaing children 12 to 15 starting today, as i understand it. give us a sense of what some of the parents and kids have been telling you. >> reporter: jeff, we're hearing a lot of excitement. go back to the headlines earlier this week, the fda, the cdc, opening up the vaccine to children 12 and up. one of the first families in line, the mom is a cps bus

driver. the kids say they don't want to be robbed of their eighth grade graduation. one said she was robbed of an eighth grade education but she wanted to have a full high school experience. the possibility of them getting vaccinated being expanded. then you hear from the president of the american federation of teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in this country saying they are pushing and will be campaigning for schools to fully reopen five days a week. that's something you hear doctors also extremely happy about because of the impact the school closures have had. you're getting the sense talking to multiple people, multiple stakeholders that there is genuine excitement about the changes that you're seeing. lots of positive headlines and people are really getting the sense that they're feeling like they're moving back to normal here. >> we have nbc's tom costello.

tom, we were talking to dr. vin gupta who was pointing out that one of the consequences of the new guidelines could be that you have two classes of people, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, and it would fall on private businesses on how to handle that. what do you think will be the immediate impacts when we see the briefing start momentarily for the new guidelines that they don't have to wear masks indoors or outdoors or socially distance? >> the big question will be for many of these businesses, how do you know someone is vaccinated, right? >> i hate to cut you off, we have to go to the briefing starting now. >> i want to talk about how we got to today. the reason we're winning the war against covid-19 is because scientists over the years have found a solution to beat this virus. very safe and effective vaccines. and because americans have chosen to get vaccinated, overall we have administered 250

million shots since president biden took office, and we're approaching 60% of adult americans who have taken at least one shot. our progress has been steady. it's beginning to take hold. case counts, hospitalizations, deaths, virtually every metric is now improving consistently in most of the country. today covid-19 deaths are at the lowest point since april of 2020. dr. fauci has reviewed study after study on these calls, demonstrating the real world impact of vaccines in driving these results. recent progress has been especially strong. since everyone 16 and over became eligible for the vaccination, cases have dropped by 45%. and since everyone became eligible three weeks ago, that is, everyone 16 and over, 12% of

adults have become newly vaccinated. we must begin to press harder when we have an advantage and not let up. yesterday individuals 12 through 15 years old became eligible for the pfizer vaccine. we are putting every resource possible to bear and leveraging every possible partnership in the country to reach people who aren't vaccinated yet and to make it as easy as possible for them to get a shot. more than 20,000 local pharmacies in communities across the nation are now offering walk-in vaccinations. you can test your zip code to 438829 to get locations near you with vaccines in stock. soon you'll even be able to book a free ride through that text from uber and lyft. as the president announced, lyft and uber are offering free rides

to anyone who wants to get vaccinated between may 24 and july 4. if you want to sort by the specific vaccines, you can go to vaccines.gov. efforts around the country are not letting up and they cannot let up. they must accelerate with everyone contributing what they have to the effort. let mow close and hand it off to dr. walensky by reiterating some of the words the president said yesterday. on july 4th, let's celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence of the virus. 70% of adults with at least one shot by july 4th is an attainable goal. when you're winning, you press harder. we can do this, but if you haven't gotten vaccinated yet, now is the time. with that, over to dr. walensky with an important update with

what our progress means for americans. >> thank you and good afternoon. i'm pleased to be back with you today. let's have an overview of the data. yesterday the cdc reported more than 34,291 cases. another back-to-back decrease of 12%. and 7-day average daily deaths have also declined to 587 per day. today i have several exciting announcements to share with you. first, since becoming cdc director, i have seen firsthand the parallel infrastructure in this country. i'm committed to upgrading the

public health system so the nation is ready for whatever comes next. with this in mind, today we are announcing the upcoming release of $7.4 billion in funding from the american rescue plan to hire, train and support workers across the country reflected on the diversity in the community in which they serve. more than half the money being released, we can immediately add more

staff in health departments across country and we'll add school nurses to k-12 schools to support operations and vaccines for younger people. we will expand the number of cdc epidemic intelligence service officers, our detectives to be alerted to outbreaks. we will train a diverse group of public health leaders and launch a public health americorps to support a strong work force ready to respond. it will create new programs intended to increase staffing at our nation's laboratories and build preparedness for the future. we are really excited about what this support will mean for our nation's public health capability now and into the future. second, last night i endorsed the recommendations of cdc committees on immunization practices, making the pfizer vaccine available to anyone who

is 12 years and older. i want to thank the acip for reviewing the science and providing recommendations on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. this is an important step forward in our efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible and to stop the pandemic. and, finally, i want to provide you an update regarding cdc's guidance for fully vaccinated people. over the course of the pandemic, we are continuously gathering data and evidence to inform our guidance and decision making. we now have numerous reports in the literature that demonstrates a safety and real world effectiveness of the authorized vaccine. on this slide, there are three recently published studies, one from israel published in the journal of the american medical association or jama on the top, and two the united states, both published in cdc's morbidity and mortality report that shows

covid vaccines work. there was 76% effectiveness and 86% effectiveness in over 90% of health care workers. there was 94% effective of vaccines across 14 hospitals. additionally, we are accumulating data where authorized vaccines are effective against the variants that are circling our country. you can see a publication just last week of how effective the vaccine is against b.1.1.7 and also b 1351.

finally, we know that in the rare event that people get infected after a vaccine, the resultant infection is more likely to be of shorter dur -- duration and less likely to affect others. with our growing understanding of the low risk of transmission to others, combined with universal access of vaccines to those 12 and older, today the cdc is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people. anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities large or small without wearing a mask or physical distancing. if you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. we have all longed for this

moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the scientific data on the performance of our vaccine and our understanding of how the virus spreads, that moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated. now, if you are immunocompromised, you most definitely want to talk to your doctor before giving up your mask. also, locations such as health care facilities will continue to follow their specific recommendations. lastly, this past year has shown us the virus can be unpredictable, so if things get worse, there is always a chance we need to make a change to these recommendations. but we know the more people that are vaccinated, the less cases we'll have and the less chance for a new spike or variant emerging. if you develop symptoms, you should put your mask back on and get tested right away.

the science is also very clear about unvaccinated people. you remain at risk of mild or severe illness, of death or spreading the disease to others. you should still wear a mask and still get vaccinated right away. this is an exciting and powerful moment. it could only happen because of the work of so many who made sure we had the rapid administration of three safe and effective vaccines. it could also only happen because we have an adequate supply of those vaccines for everyone 12 years and older in this country. your health and how soon you return to your normal life before the pandemic are in your very capable hands. if you are not yet vaccinated, please go to vaccines.gov or text your zip code to getvax to

find one in your area. once you are vaccinated, two weeks after the second dose, you can shed your mask. thank you, and i'll turn you over to dr. fauci. >> thank you very much, dr. walensky. dr. walensky has spoken to you about issues we can look forward to when you have vaccination. i want to talk a little about the future of where we want to go with vaccines with regard to coronavirus. and that is the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine. this is something that has been discussed now for some time. these two articles in the "new york times" asking about the possibility of a universal coronavirus, and the other in science magazine by jon cohen. what do we mean by universal vaccine? this is the phylogenetic tree of

the coronavirus. the four viruses account for anywhere between 5 and 15% of the common colds we all get each year. next slide. in 2002, you had sars-cov-1 and the first indication that the covid virus had spreading potential. now in the next slide we are dealing with this very difficult situation of sars-cov-2. next slide. so what people are asking is can we actually, conceptually and in reality, get the covid-19 vaccine? there have been a number of forays into that, using different types of vaccines.

next slide. the paper appeared just a couple days ago in the journal "nature." what it is was the development of neutralizing antibodies for both pandemic and pre-emergent coronaviruses by a particular platform, technology or technique. let me explain. next slide. the proof of concept is one that antibodies that can neutralize different multiple coronaviruses have been isolated from people in their normal immune response who were infected with sars-cov-1. this was a strong suggestion that a pan-coronavirus might be possible. what executives at duke university found out was that a highly conservative site in the

domain makes human and bat coronaviruses highly vulnerable to cross-neutralizing antibodies. with that realization, next slide, was they designed a pan-coronavirus vaccine with this domain, and they added an antigen to boost the immunity response. so in monkeys, nanoparticle vaccine completely blocked sars-cov-2 infection and elicited higher neutralizing activity than seen with current vaccines or natural infection. but importantly, which is the crux of this discussion, the veney lis ted cross-neutralizing antibody responses against bat coronaviruses, sars-cov-1,

sars-cov-2 and variants that we are dealing with such as b.1.1.7, p.1, and b.1.351. this is an extremely important proof of concept that we will be aggressively pursuing as we get into the development of human trial. so i'll stop there, and back to you, randy. >> thank you, dr. fauci and dr. walensky. let's take questions. i know everybody probably has a lot of questions today, so that we can get through as many as possible, please, one question each. >> thank you for taking my question. i am wondering what this means about social distancing, what this means about your guidelines for schools and workplaces, and also what you think this mask

change might mean incentives, whether it will incentivize people to get vaccinated, or for people who were resistant, they have no reason to get vaccinated. >> dr. walensky? >> thank you for that question. i want to be clear that we follow the science here. while that may incentivize people not to get vaccinated, that is not the idea. the idea is to follow the science and follow where we are with regard to the science and what is safe for individuals to do. of course, this guidance is really just for individuals who are vaccinated and what they can do, safely do, and we have work ahead of us in terms of updating our guidance with regard to all of our settings, schools and camps, and that will be the work we have ahead of us. >> next question. >> reporter: hi, thanks for taking my question. you mentioned the signs, and we know it's been about 16 days

since the cdc last updated its guidance on masks. we also saw heavy criticism in the last week for moving too slow. has the science really changed in 16 days, or is this a response to public criticism? >> thank you for that question. several things have happened in the last two weeks. in the last two weeks, the cases in country have dropped by a third. in the last two weeks, we've had increasing available vaccine and we now have available and eligible people between the ages of 12 and 15. and we have had a coalescence of science that has emerged just in the last week. one is the effectiveness of the vaccine, one is the effectiveness of variants just in the last week, and effectiveness of preventing

transmisibility. >> next question. >> reporter: my question is for you, dr. walensky. you said regardless of gathering size, even indoors, that we don't have to wear a mask. i noticed you did not list exceptions beyond health care providers, i believe, so does this mean vaccinated people can take their mask off on an airplane. >> thank you for that question, caitlyn. right now we still have the requirement to wear a mask when we travel on planes, trains and other forms of public transportation, as well as airports and stations. the cdc will continue to update our guidance as science emerges. right now for travel we are asking people to continue to wear their masks. >> next question. >> some major news today from the white house covid response team that vaccinated americans no longer have to wear a face mask or socially distance

indoors or outdoors at gatherings large or small, so says the cdc director dr. walensky. she said the fully vaccinated americans can continue doing what they stopped doing because of the pandemic, and this is the moment we all longed for. i want to continue talking to tom costello about how this guidance will come into practice. it's one thing for the cdc to make this announcement. it's a very different thing for businesses who have to figure out how to navigate through this. what's the impact here? >> that's exactly right. if you're a small business owner, you can still require masks if you feel that that's appropriate, and do you require that your employees show that they have the vaccine? should they have to show a card, for example? do you just take it on good faith that people who come in as customers have, in fact, been vaccinated? and what if you're running a big business? for example, nbc news.

do you allow employees to come back in without showing proof of vaccination, or do you essentially take it on their word? every business across the country is dealing with this exact issue right now. as for the airline travel question, you heard that at the very end there. the tsa announced they will keep requiring masks through mid-september in airports and on airlines. they said that two weeks ago. will they maintain that guidance until we goat a much higher level of people getting vaccinated? you heard they would like to see 70% of adults fully vaccinated by july. right now we're at about 59% of adults having one dose. if they can hit 70% by july 4th, are we close enough to herd immunity that they'll be comfortable enough to drop that mandate in an airport setting, in a bus depot on the train, that sort of thing.

whether it's a large business or restaurant, that's up to the business. if they decide they want to require masks, if you walk into that business, you need to subscribe to what the regulations are. by the way, can i make a point? >> absolutely. >> as you know, there is so much misinformation and disinformation. i had somebody doing some work in our house a few weeks ago, this person is convinced they're going to try to rearrange the dna in their body if they get a vaccine. that's a widespread misperception out there. this is a constant battle against misinformation and disinformation, and even though the numbers are improving in terms of the number of people being vaccinated, there is a big battle with that kind of misinformation. >> you know what, tom, i'll pick up what you're putting down here and take the conversation that direction for a second. dr. blackstock, i think it's a very good point, especially when we're talking about adolescents

getting vaccinated and children under 12. parents are concerned about the rmna vaccine. what's the science say? >> most of the data is showing that parents will make decisions for their children given the intentions for themselves. a third are saying they want to see it, a third is saying, no, not at all. i think we need to involve pediatricians in this. the public message will be important. kids went through sustained trials as adults. these sustained trials showed there was a high degree of efficacy in these trials for 12 to 15-year-olds. what i will say also is i have a four and six-year-old, and once they are eligible for the vaccine, they are going to get

vaccinated. because when you weigh the risks and the benefits, there is a tremendous benefit to vaccinating children. it breaks the transmission of the virus in the community and increases the chances for herd immunity. >> it's 2:30 here on the east coast and we're following this new announcement from the cdc that fully vaccinated americans no longer have to wear masks or socially distance two weeks after their second shot. monica, we heard questions asked about how the cdc reached this new guidance when it was just 16 days ago they were saying something a little different. give us a sense of what's happened at the white house, especially over the last few days, as president biden himself had gotten feedback from governors about this. >> reporter: it seems in realtime they got these responses and were quick to act. the cdc says all of this was

guided by the science. that was the overarching message today, because she was asked if this had to do with things we had seen, for example, the governor of ohio and that lottery. they're being clear that, no, this is really citing the world data and evidence that these vaccines are really good at preventing illness and the variants as well which they got the data on during this question and answer session. but overall we're seeing how nimble the cdc is being. if things get bad, they'll have to update their violence. they really downplayed the mask, saying if you are two weeks after your second shot, you can leave your mask at home.

it really does signal the president's main priority was getting out ahead of this, and not just on the vaccination front, but trying to signal to people that your life can resume to what was normal before the pandemic if you get your vaccine. what's unknown, though, is this question of hesitancy. this comes at a time when we see a fourth of the population saying, it's not that i'm hesitant, i don't know where to get it, i'm in a more rural hard-to-reach area. the cdc says they're doing more to get to those people, offering another reason to go and get it, but it comes, as the other experts noted, as more kids will be vaccinated, 12 and up, with the potential of getting the virus going down. the cdc will also have to change

the guidance for schools and workplaces. for now you have to look at your schools and workplace for how it might impact those places, jeff. >> and the issue of this public health guidance, there are a lot of public health experts who are concerned that the cdc was underselling the vaccines, that the vaccines offer excellent protection and that the guidance about masks from a messaging standpoint in some ways was undercutting that. it seems the cdc has turned that around entirely. but i wonder if there is a caveat here. there are all sorts of questions for people who work in or are going to health care facilities. >> that's right, jeff. this was a smart move today by the cdc, not just on masks, on vaccines and what we can and cannot do in terms of indoor masks and distancing.

but i love what the doctor said about down the road. we might be sticking something in our nose ours and making it easier. you can still get it but we don't know if you'll produce the same level of antibodies, and if not, you're immunocompromised. if you live or work in a high-level setting than you did before, is that high density or medium density? it comes back to the critical point of how will businesses, schools interpret this important information today? are they going to start track who gets the vaccine versus who doesn't? is there a magic number that

businesses will start to feel comfortable to actually loosen restrictions in workplace settings? we don't know that. will they mandate it like the military says they most likely will do once it's approved by colleges and universities. these are the types of questions for restaurants and small businesses. it's really hard to ask for a percentage capacity. when you hear what the cdc put out today, how do you look at that and not say, wow, i can have 100% capacity if we're in a vaccine bubble. >> stephanie ruhle, the cdc director says this is the moment we've all longed for. this is a moment businesses have longed for, too. what's the impact there? >> it is but it's complicated. for businesses meaning employers, most likely they will bring back employees sooner. but businesses can ask employees if they've been vaccinated and

show proof. they can control how many are in their office. they don't necessarily need businesses or customers there. but for businesses who need to, think restaurants, hotels. it's very hard to enforce this. we've heard so many stories about how hard it was for front line workers to enforce mask mandates over the last few months. there were stories of harassment and assault from customers unwilling to wear the mask. so now on some level it gets more complicated. i know people have mentioned it already, knowing if random customers who walked in the door have been vaccinated, that's difficult. you can't know for sure. because of that, there is a chance we could still see a number of customer businesses still requiring masks because they want to protect those front line workers. >> dr. blackstock, what about that? in the absence of a task force system, people are basically working on the honor system here. how does that work in a public

health capacity? >> that's the concern i had. how do you know who has been vaccinated, how do you know who hasn't been vaccinated, and it's definitely going to be an honor system that we're using of the --. the logistics of not having sick leave or working overnight, they're not able to get vaccinated. so we really just need to push for as many people as possible to get vaccinated. >> monica alba, if you have any more information about what president biden is set to say next hour, let us know. give us a sense broadly of how this new announcement runs parallel to the president's desire to get this country back to some semblance of normalcy by july 4th, he says. >> remember, he's really moved these benchmarks a couple times as things have progressed. remember his initial goal of 100

shots in arms, that got doubled to 200 shots in arms when he was to see how it was progressing. you might even hear a goal too far into the future, that by memorial day people could be living their lives that was a lot different than last memorial day, for instance, if we look at this new guidance. i think the president will come out and really connect the dots for people. sometimes the health experts can lay out the data and the science and discuss what it means from their perspective, but the president of the white house can come out and say, speak to americans directly, here's how it will actually impact your life. and if you're still not sure whether or not you should get vaccinated, his reaction will be what more incentive do you want? if you do that and you're two weeks out from it, you don't have to wear a mask indoors or outdoors in almost all

instances. i think, what you're talking about is how we will know that. i think the question will be of public transportation and airlines. if airlines start to say, we don't need you to wear a mask because of the guidance, how will that work? all those things have to be worked out, but in terms of the president's bigger goals and time lines, expect him to really tout this as a major achievement, and he'll probably give a lot of credit to the american people, those who have become fully vaccinated and urge even more people to do the same. again, i wouldn't be surprised if he says the fourth of july as he's been marking this independence, of course, not just celebrating the holiday but an independence from the virus. that's aheme you'll likely hear from him. just yesterday he was speaking to a group of bipartisan governors where some of them were expressing to him, how do we get people to understand how important this is, and he actually previewed and i think

you'll hear that more in the days to come, hinting what i think for him will be conveying what a sigh of relief this can be for people who are so fearful and what that means for the future if the hope lingers on the horizon if we climb out of the pandemic in terms of mask wearing and social distancing, jeff. >> i want to bring in news correspondent ron allen to talk about this new guidance. ron, the news has just broken. what's the reaction? what are people telling you? >> reporter: first of all, jeff, we're in a train station, because as i read the guidelines, that's still a recommendation. i talked to a number of people. perhaps, surprisingly, most people were telling me they still want to keep their mask on because they're not sure about other people and whether, in fact, they truly have been vaccinated if they say they have. so we walk out here in midtown,

there are still people wearing masks. sure enough, one woman i approached who was not wearing a mask said she wasn't vaccinated, she wasn't going to get vaccinated. she couldn't really state a reason why, but that's the example of a counter and why people would want to keep masks on. a lot of people were saying in private settings with friends, with family, there will be a much more relaxed environment, with people you know, neighbors. but there will be a lot of sorting out of this where people feel comfortable and where they don't. here again, in new york, as we get to this may 19 target date where things open up widely and there are few capacity restrictions, i would expect in every venue you can think of, be it a restaurant, bowling alley, hairdresser, people will be trying to sort it out. i spoke to one woman who does run a salon and she said she will operate based on what makes her clients feel good, feel

comfortable. she'll put the mask on, she'll take it off. this is a whole new area of social etiquette, i guess you could say, where people are going to be engaging about this and discussing it, and even now, this sort of, hey, have you been vaccinated, have you not? but the bottom line is i think most people that we spoke to were saying that they will still wear a mask in many situations, especially when there is a lot of people around because they don't know what the other persons, what other people are doing and whether they can be trusted, quite frankly, and whether or not it's still safe. i think it's going to take a while for this all to change and evolve. jeff? >> you're right, we're all just feeling our way through it. tom costello, ron mentioned the impact of public transportation. that is one of the things you cover here on nbc news.

it's not wrong at all to say the pandemic was a disaster for major airlines and amtrak. how are those companies doing now, and what do you think this new mask guidance will mean for their bottom line going forward? >> it's certainly going to help. i was on a family vacation for the first time in more than a year last week, in florida, and it was a packed flight. they're still about a million travelers short pre-pandemic because the business traveler has not been flying. i think we'll see that culture, if you've been to asia, a lot of people are seen wearing masks out on the street, in the airports and the airlines, maybe because they have a cold and they don't want to spread it or because they don't want to get a cold. i talked to a lot of experts in the airline industry who say these things will become a lot more common. you'll see people wearing these,

even after the pandemic. they'll wear them in airplanes, wear them in bus stations because they don't want to get the flu. this may be more the culture, maybe not as extreme like we see in asia. it's real common in korea, for example. that may be one of the defining and permanent changes as a result of the pandemic. but to the last point about will business travel return? you're absolutely right, that is going to be a big challen for these airlines that have found that zoom, what you and i are talking on right now, this has worked really well. you can see my expression, i can see yours, we have a pretty good sense of how the other is reacting to our words. and if zoom can replace the business of face-to-face transaction, that will really cut the bottom line of hotels and all these industries that

rely on business travel. >> stephanie, how about that? is there any new data shown how zoom has changed the way we work and whether it's changed businesses' profits? >> we've heard it on earnings calls from fortune 500 ceos over the last year. not spending money on business travel is a huge savings in corporate america, and you're going to see some of it come back. as tom was saying that, i could larry hotel ceos and airline ceos weeping in the corner. but it's true. it's how the travel industry makes their money. they charge full fare for those tickets, those hotel rooms. this will be an issue in the travel industry, and for corporate america, yes, we've learned over the last year that many businesses have been able to survive -- maybe not thrive

in certain areas, but they've been very productive. you're going to see as we return cuts that happened over the last year stay in place because businesses don't need so many employees, they don't need so much travel. in the short term, you might actually see much smaller customer base. we are fully vaccinated. if you would like to come to our theater, our restaurant and show your vaccination, guess what, no one has to wear a mask. remember, these are private businesses. they can dictate the rules. just like no shirt, no shoes, no service, they can say, i am a business where everyone is fully vaccinated. i would go to a business like that. i would take my kids to a movie theater if i knew everybody was vaccinated. >> we were just getting reaction from new york city via ron allen.

let's go to ellison barber in mississippi. >> in mississippi they got rid of having to wear masks the last of april. they got rid of all but wearing masks in schools. when you go to a restaurant, you can see them wearing it when they're sitting at a table not actively eating. we talked to people just visiting here from florida and d.c. is kind of what ron was talking about, a very different mixed reaction. some said this is great, that the guidance should have changed a while ago. others say they feel like it's too risky and not nearly enough people are vaccinated. listen directly from some of the people we've been talking to this afternoon.

>> i think the guidance is good, but i think we should still continue to play it safe and wear masks. >> reporter: how come? >> it's the right thing to do. that's what i do. >> it makes i think outside weag masks just doesn't make sense much. and yeah, so that's pretty exciting. i think a lot of people are going to appreciate that. >> the vaccination still isn't -- i don't really trust it in my opinion. >> reporter: i was talking to one restaurant owner in this area, he has 14 different restaurants across mississippi, louisiana, and alabama. and because the guidance in the state of mississippi had changed, he said they weren't requiring their employees who worked in the kitchen or came into work to wear a mask. that was sort of up to them. many of them, not all, are vaccinated. whether or not at this point he said they chose to wear a mask, they were letting them make

their own decision. they were still requiring servers to wear face masks when they were going to tables and interacting because they'd be within six feet, sometimes over the course of a dining experience they could be at one table well over 15 minutes once you kind of add it all up. he says now with this new guidance they're going to reassess that. tonight they're going to have a discussion with their staff and also start gauging reactions from customers to see what staff as well as customers are comfortable with as it relates to servers wearing face masks when they're interacting with customers at tables. >> and dr. blackstock, a question to you about equity as we talk about these new guidelines. i mean, there are the vaccine resistant, there are the vaccine hesitant, and then there's sort of the vaccine indifferent. you know, if somebody's working to make ends meet and they got two jobs, two kids, going to cvs and spending even if it's 25th amendment in line to get that -- 20 minutes in line to get that

shot, that's a luxury some don't have. what's the solution to make sure access is equitable? >> right. exactly. access is still a huge, huge issue. there's 30 million people unvaccinated but still interested in getting a vaccine. and as we've seen, cities are being very innovative. new york city, for example, in the subways are offering a seven-day metrocard so you can get vaccinated in grand central station. those are the incentives that we need, but we also need flexibility in schedules. we need people to be able to get a vaccine like they can go to the store and get a carton of milk. it needs to be that easy. and we also need employers to make sure that they are willing to offer paid leave for people to get their vaccines, not just on the day of the vaccine but several days after when they feel those -- those adverse side effects. and so we could tackle access first before we can say people are vaccine hesitant. and i think that we're in that

phase of the rollout now where enabling access is going to be key to reaching that 70% number by july. >> and dr. gupta, we're nowhere near the end of this pandemic. but this is a major day. i guess the question i have for you is, you know, how does this all strike you? how does this resonate with you? you have as a frontline worker lived through the hell of this pandemic. you've talked us through it for the last year and a half. and on this day when the cdc is saying, you know, for fully vaccinated americans, this is a major moment, you no longer have to wear a mask. you no longer have to socially distance inside or outside. how does that all hit you? >> well, it's a big day. but i think today is going to create urgency to really accelerate toward normalcy and specifics. i think what the cdc put out, it was specific but not operational. when i'm hearing this discussion on airline travel, i'll see this as a lung doc, if you took 100

individuals that were fully vaccinated and you put them into a business meeting room somewhere in the united states, no distance, no masking, versus on an airplane cabin and they're all fully vaccinated, it's not like the airplane cabin is any less safe. arguably it's more safe than the business room meeting that's on level ground. everybody, i hear -- i get hundreds of inquiries about safe travel. we really need specific guidance here. the airline industry needs specific guidance about what is safe to get to maximum capacity. ron pointed this out at the train station, there's the psychology element here. we want people to feel safe. they're not necessarily going to feel safe, they're not going to venture into a restaurant unless there's some type of bubble situation here. so we need to address that. we need specifics here. then i'll lastly point out california occupational health and safety administration is putting out guidance in workplaces saying if you don't get vaccinated and don't provide proof of a vaccine card or some documentation, by the way you're

going to have to wear an n95 and get tested. this will allow workplace, schools, to introduce friction and nudges for people to get the vaccine. there's education, equity, as dr. blackstock's talking about, and friction. this is going to allow for some friction. >> joining us as we round out the hour is pbs news hour who the correspondent and new moderator of "washington week," and got dr. gupta making an example about airplane cabins. and i understand you asked a question about that very thing during the briefing right after we got out of it. what was the question, what was the answer? >> well, the question was why is the cdc still requiring people to wear masks on trains and airplanes but not essentially requiring them to wear masks even in indoor large gatherings like a big concert. that's a question that right now is not answered, the cdc said they're going to be reviewing that. but i think that's the big question here. if i can go to a big park or go even to my favorite band

whenever that is, why would i have to wear a mask on a plane? >> and dr. blackstock, final thoughts about this day as we we end up the hour here? >> you know, i think overall this is a momentous day. but as dr. gupta emphasized, i think we need to think about how are we going to operationalize these updated guidelines, especially on transportation, in schools, and in businesses and other settings. but my final point is that this is another huge step toward normalcy, toward regaining parts of our lives that we enjoyed in the past. and i think it's cause for some celebration today. >> absolutely. i want to thank all of my nbc news colleagues and contributors who joined us today on this momentous day as the cdc announces that fully vaccinated americans no longer have to wear masks or socially distance inside or outside. that's it for me today. thanks for spending the hour with us. my friend and colleague chris jansing picks up coverage next. t

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good afternoon, i'm chris jansing in for ayman mohyeldin. this is a momentous day. moments ago the biden administration making the announcement as they put it that we've all been waiting for -- fully vaccinated people can take off their masks outside and inside. >> anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities large or small without wearing a mask or physical distancing. if you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. we have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. once you are fully vaccinated, two weeks after your last dose, you can shed your masks. >> and president biden will have more to say about