Coronavirus Watch: Vaccinated teachers and students don't need masks, CDC says

Fully vaccinated teachers and students don't need to wear masks inside school buildings, the CDC said in new guidelines Friday.

The CDC recommends anyone over the age of 2 who isn’t fully vaccinated – students, teachers and staff – continue to wear masks indoors and to try to keep 3 feet of distance.

It's Friday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• A third shot of the COVID-19 vaccineis not yet needed after a new study found a booster dose made by Pfizer and BioNTech strongly extends protection, government public health agencies said Thursday.
• Michael Andrew, a U.S. swimming star who will compete in multiple events in Tokyo later this month, became the biggest Olympic name yet to reveal he has not been vaccinated. Thursday, Olympic officials said fans would not be allowed at the games amid the state of emergency in Tokyo.
• All of Maryland’s reported coronavirus deaths last month were made up of unvaccinated people, as well as most of the new cases and hospitalizations, the state reported.
• The Iowa Department of Public Health's pandemic reporting website is no longer updating daily as the state continues "to transition to COVID-19 pandemic recovery," according to state's memo.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 33.8 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 606,600 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 185.8 million cases and more than 4 million deaths. About 55% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 48% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, USA TODAY breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck