Amazon exec Dave Clark praised the CDC mask guidance, saying it will go a ‘long way’ in reducing vaccine hesitancy

• Amazon exec Dave Clark said he thinks the CDC's recent mask guidance will lead to more vaccinations.
• The new guidance will help reduce vaccine hesitancy, Clark said at a Chamber of Commerce forum.
• The CDC recently said fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most places.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

An Amazon executive said eliminating mask mandates for fully vaccinated people will reduce vaccine hesitancy.

Dave Clark, Amazon's chief executive officer of consumer business, praised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to recommend fully vaccinated people to stop wearing masks in most places.

"I think the guidance we just got from the CDC is big," Clark said during the US Chamber of Commerce's inaugural Global Forum on Economic Recovery on May 18. "This ability to be able to, if you've been vaccinated, not wear a mask indoors I think is going to go a long way to help reduce hesitancy."

Clark said he heard frontline Amazon workers question why they need to get vaccinated if they've been coming to work for months and still need to social distance. But getting vaccination clinics on Amazon work sites had led to a 20% increase in the number of employees getting shots, Clark said.

Read more: EXCLUSIVE: Amazon plans new 'Diagnostics' brand that offers at-home medical tests for COVID-19, sexually transmitted infections, and clinical genomics

"People needed to see and hear that there was actually a path forward," Clark added. "I think as that picture becomes clearer, you're going to see more and more people, I hope, shift and go take the vaccine."

Following the CDC's recommendation to ease COVID restrictions for fully vaccinated people, major retailers like Target, Walmart, and Costco said they will not require fully vaccinated shoppers to wear masks. Amazon has not yet announced whether it will change mask policies in warehouses and fulfillment centers based on the CDC guidance.

More than 122 million US adults have been fully vaccinated as of May 18, representing 47% of the adult population, per the CDC. Cases of COVID-19 are steadily declining in the US, and hospitalizations due to the disease have record lows in New York and California.

The CDC recommends fully vaccinated people still wear masks in healthcare settings, homeless shelters, public transportation, and airports, and allowed private companies to enforce mask rules as they see fit.