For a nation mired in a pandemic for more than a year, the biggest step toward a return to normal came suddenly, even to U.S. President Joe Biden.
After warning the country on Monday to stay vigilant amid the threat of coronavirus variants, the president found himself three days later striking a different tone, celebrating that the U.S. had already reached a sort of finish line.
Late Wednesday evening, Biden’s White House learned from Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that vaccinated Americans could safely shed the face masks that have become a staple of their wardrobes in almost all occasions.