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Bar and restaurant owners in other parts of the country hard-hit by limitations due to the pandemic are still facing limitations.

In Los Angeles County, indoor dining is restricted to operating with a maximum of 50% occupancy, according to the Department of Public Health.

The latest move from the CDC was an about-face from guidance issued just 16 days prior when the agency suggested masks should still be used indoors or in crowds even if people are fully immunized, which is defined as two weeks after the final shot.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky faced criticism for the CDC being too slow to provide a path back to normalcy for fully vaccinated people, over 117 million of whom are in the U.S. Walensky has defended the CDC's approach as scientifically-based to ensure protection not just for individuals but also the entire U.S. population. The majority of the American population remains unvaccinated.

Some restaurant owners hope that the news will prompt changes at the state, and local districts and several states -- including Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada and Pennsylvania -- lifted their mask mandates following the update from the CDC.

At the same time, mask enforcement for non-vaccinated people will be challenging and is likely to renew the debate over \"vaccine passports,\" which some states have banned.

\"With regard to what businesses, communities, schools we, of course, will be updating our guidance in many of these areas very shortly,\" Walensky said Thursday, but urged local public health departments to make the call in each community based on how many people are vaccinated and how many cases are in the area.

ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett andAnne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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