A return to normalcy seems tantalizingly close, but many in the US are living in a frustrating gray area when only about 30% of the population is fully vacinated

The new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance this week still recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks for common indoor activities, from eating at an indoor restaurant to attending church, even though the CDC loosened the guidelines for some outdoor activities. And as many Americans try to sort through the confusion of when to mask and unmask, they are also trying to understand whether summer travel is safe, especially with kids, and how long it will take for this nation to halt the spread of the virus given that a quarter of adults are showing stubborn resistance to getting vaccinated as variants continue to circulate.

There is still a wide range in Covid-19 messaging about what people can and cannot do at the state, local and federal levels. As an example, the Transportation Security Administration on Friday extended the Biden-era mandate for travelers to wear masks in airports and on airplanes, trains, buses and boats even though some governors have allowed mask requirements in their states to expire. The TSA rule, which was set to expire May 11, will now last until September 13.

Members of Biden’s Covid-19 response team tried to project optimism and forecast brighter days ahead for vaccinated Americans on Friday. Both Covid-19 case numbers and deaths are down, with the US reaching the lowest seven-day average of new deaths reported since last July, according to a new CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients noted Friday that the US shipped out its 300 millionth dose this week, but once again stressed that the pace of vaccinations would “moderate and fluctuate” amid reports of a dropoff in vaccinations in some areas. Facing persistent questions from reporters about the dwindling demand for vaccines, he and his colleagues emphasized their intensifying focus on making it easier for busy and home-bound Americans to get shots while combating vaccine misinformation to get more people vaccinated.

“It’s not unexpected, as we entered this next phase, that there will be more of a balance between supply and demand,” Zients said during Friday’s Covid-19 task force briefing. “That makes it even more important that we make it easier for people to get vaccinated, that we continue, as (Surgeon General) Dr. (Vivek) Murthy talked about, to build vaccine confidence and ensure equity.”

“What is unexpected is how fast we’ve gotten here,” Zients added. “We know this next phase won’t be easy, but neither was getting to 220 million shots in arms in the first 100 days.”

‘Flood the zone with accurate information’

Overall, about 63% of Americans said they would feel comfortable returning to their regular routines in the CNN poll; 32% said they would not and 4% said they already have.

Americans’ ability to return to their daily rituals safely will depend on the government keeping up the pace of vaccinations. Most scientists say that to get to the point where the spread of virus can be halted, which is known as herd immunity, between 70% and 85% of the population must be protected either by antibodies from natural infection or vaccination.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the White House approach to combating that kind of vaccine misinformation will be to “flood the zone with accurate information.”

Psaki told reporters that the White House is in the process of investing $3 billion in public campaigns across the country, a combination of funding for paid media and social media, as well as money for local programs that can harness the influence of trusted community leaders to persuade Americans to get vaccinated.

Pressure to reopen

Even as the pace of vaccinations slows, governors and mayors in both red and blue states are under pressure to get their economies reopened. Biden has said he hopes that Americans can get together in small groups to celebrate by July 4.

“The people are getting vaccinated and fighting back Covid, and it’s working,” de Blasio said when asked to respond to Cuomo’s comments. “They’re ready for a comeback.

Asked about whether a July 1 reopening was too soon for New York, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said in the White House Covid-19 press briefing Friday that officials remain focused on “getting people vaccinated, decreasing the case rates.”

“If we can continue at this pace, case rates are coming down, vaccinations going up, then I think July 1 would be a reasonable target,” she said.

But when pressed on that question — whether Americans would still be wearing masks at restaurants and arenas indoors, for example — she said she didn’t want to make predictions about what the nation’s life would look like by then.

“This virus has tricked us before,” she said.