CDC recommends fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear mask indoors or outdoors

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear a COVID mask indoors or outdoors, with a few exceptions. 

The changes comes after roughly a year of people in the U.S. – and around the world – wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the virus, which has killed over 3.3 million people worldwide since first detected and reported out of China in late-2019, early-2020.

The CDC changes comes amid a worldwide vaccination program in which roughly 35 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated.

"Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, no mater how large or small, without a mask," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in announcing the changes. "This an exciting and powerful moment."

The agency said in announcing the changes that 250 million Americans have now been vaccinated. 

The exceptions will be in such places as hospitals, planes and prisons.