for those 12 and older, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated people could ditch their face masks.
By Memorial Day, the country’s 7-day case average was just over 18,000 and the 7-day death average was just over 400, lows not seen since the pandemic began.
Cases, hospitalizations and deaths continued to drop even more in the coming weeks. The average number of daily cases dipped below 12,000 for the first time since March 2020.
A celebratory Biden administration said the upcoming Fourth of July holiday would also serve as a symbol of the country’s "independence from the virus."And then things took a shift.