Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and public health expert in New York City, believes the new guidelines generally make sense, “as long as we’re not seeing a sudden surge in local community spread.” Offices and schools shouldn’t be an issue, although Redlener thinks it’s still too risky to go maskless in crowded bars, which are “just too unpredictable about keeping people apart.” There are two potential problems now lurking in the wings, he argued. “One, we don't actually know for sure what's going to happen in the wintertime, when people are going to be indoors more, which is why we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible now,” he told The Daily Beast. “The second thing that keeps me up at night are the apocalyptic disasters in India, Nepal, South America—potential breeding grounds for new variants that could get to the U.S. and disrupt the progress that we’re making. That could really be a threat to every country on the planet.”