Locals ‘excited’ for the ‘positive news’ of CDC’s latest mask-wearing guidance

When he first heard about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s new mask-wearing guidance on Thursday, Sycamore School District 427 Superintendent Steve Wilder said he was “excited and hopeful.”

“The CDC’s guidelines are very, very positive news, news we’ve been waiting for for a long time,” he said. “We’re excited for the impact it will have on our schools.”

On Thursday, the CDC eased indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.

The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools, and other venues — even removing the need for masks or social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.

The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds. Fully vaccinated means a person has received both doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and are two weeks out from their final dose for full immunization to take effect.

Although the Illinois Department of Public Health has not issued its own guidance, Wilder said that IDPH typically follows CDC guidance and that local school districts follow IDPH’s guidance.

“Our school district will follow IDPH guidelines and will put the safety of our students and our staff first,” he said. "

Wilder also said he was excited to hear that the Pfizer vaccine was approved for children ages 12 to 15 earlier this week.

“It’s a double shot of good news this week and absolutely a game-changer for schools,” he said. “They’re two huge steps in the right direction and the kind of news we’ve been hoping for.”

Wilder said that although the guidance about mask-wearing is “exciting, it also brings about it some challenges.”

“A challenge I foresee is how we’re going to verify which students and staff are vaccinated because we must maintain privacy and confidentiality,” he said. “We just have to make sure to find a way that everyone is staying safe and following the guidelines.”

Matt Duffy, the executive director of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, said he was excited when he first heard the news of the new CDC guidance.

“I was excited because it means we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “It’s a return to somewhat normal.”

Duffy also said the guidance is also incentive for people who are not vaccinated to receive their vaccine.

“People can change their mind and get the vaccine now because they can attend events and go out without wearing a mask if they’re vaccinated,” he said. “People can go to movie theaters, restaurants, shopping. It’s another step toward normalcy and people feeling more comfortable while out and about, living their lives.”

RoseMarie Treml, executive director of the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce, said that the CDC’s new guidelines “will most definitely help our businesses and our community to move forward and get on with our lives.”

“We are very appreciative of everything our local health department and the health industry including Northwestern Medicine has done regarding getting people vaccinated throughout DeKalb County,” she said. “Obviously this is a huge factor in our community getting back to pre-pandemic life. And now we need to get people back to work. We have many local businesses concerned and telling us that they are struggling to find employees. It’s time, it’s safe, we simply need to get back to living our lives.”