Jan 15 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari on Friday gave more downbeat assessment of the outlook than some of his colleagues, saying he believes that Americans will still need to wear masks and keep social distance through all of 2021.

"It's a long time until we can get to the other side of that," he said in a virtual town hall held by the Minnesota Hospital Association, citing new virus variants and the slow rollout of vaccines as making him more cautious over the outlook. (Reporting by Ann Saphir)