NEW YORK: Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people inside without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.
The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can be united in the same way – in a single household – with people considered at low risk of severe illness, as in the case of vaccinated grandparents who visit healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidelines on Monday.
The guidelines are designed to meet growing demand because more adults have been vaccinated and are wondering if it gives them more freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things as they did before the Covid pandemic. -19 to sweep the world last year. .
“With more and more people being vaccinated every day, we’re starting to turn the corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
During a press conference on Monday, she called the guidance “the first step” towards restoring normalcy in the way people come together. She said more activities would be good for vaccinated people as the number of cases and deaths is reduced, more Americans will be vaccinated, and as more science emerges about the ability of those who have been vaccinated to get vaccinated. and spread the virus.
The CDC continues to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear well-fitted masks, avoid large meetings, and physically distance themselves from others when in public. The CDC also recommended that vaccinated individuals be tested for symptoms that may be related to Covid-19.
Officials say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine. About 31 million Americans – or just about 9 percent of the U.S. population – have been completely vaccinated with a federally authorized Covid-19 vaccine so far, according to the CDC.
Authorized vaccine doses first became available in December and were products that required two doses two weeks apart. But since January, a small but growing number of Americans have been completely vaccinated and asked questions like: Do I still need to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren? The guide was “welcome news for a nation that is understood to be tired of the pandemic and wants to resume normal activities safely,” said Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former interim director of the CDC.
“I hope that these new guidelines will give everyone the impetus to be vaccinated when they can and give states the patience to follow the public health roadmap needed to reopen their economies and communities safely,” said Besser. a statement.
But Dr. Leana Wen called the guidance “far too cautious.” The CDC has not changed its travel recommendations, which discourages unnecessary travel and requires testing within a few days of travel. This may seem confusing to vaccinated people hoping to visit family across the country or abroad.
The new guideline also says nothing about going to restaurants or other places, even though governors lift business restrictions, said Wen, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University who was former health commissioner at Baltimore.
The CDC is missing a major opportunity to link vaccination status to reopening. Coming out with such limited guidance, they lack the window to influence state and national policy, “Wen said in an e-mail.
The CDC did not talk to people who could get a certain level of immunity from being infected and recovering from coronavirus.
The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can be united in the same way – in a single household – with people considered at low risk of severe illness, as in the case of vaccinated grandparents who visit healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidelines on Monday.
The guidelines are designed to meet growing demand because more adults have been vaccinated and are wondering if it gives them more freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things as they did before the Covid pandemic. -19 to sweep the world last year. .
“With more and more people being vaccinated every day, we’re starting to turn the corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
During a press conference on Monday, she called the guidance “the first step” towards restoring normalcy in the way people come together. She said more activities would be good for vaccinated people as the number of cases and deaths is reduced, more Americans will be vaccinated, and as more science emerges about the ability of those who have been vaccinated to get vaccinated. and spread the virus.
The CDC continues to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear well-fitted masks, avoid large meetings, and physically distance themselves from others when in public. The CDC also recommended that vaccinated individuals be tested for symptoms that may be related to Covid-19.
Officials say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine. About 31 million Americans – or just about 9 percent of the U.S. population – have been completely vaccinated with a federally authorized Covid-19 vaccine so far, according to the CDC.
Authorized vaccine doses first became available in December and were products that required two doses two weeks apart. But since January, a small but growing number of Americans have been completely vaccinated and asked questions like: Do I still need to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren? The guide was “welcome news for a nation that is understood to be tired of the pandemic and wants to resume normal activities safely,” said Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former interim director of the CDC.
“I hope that these new guidelines will give everyone the impetus to be vaccinated when they can and give states the patience to follow the public health roadmap needed to reopen their economies and communities safely,” said Besser. a statement.
But Dr. Leana Wen called the guidance “far too cautious.” The CDC has not changed its travel recommendations, which discourages unnecessary travel and requires testing within a few days of travel. This may seem confusing to vaccinated people hoping to visit family across the country or abroad.
The new guideline also says nothing about going to restaurants or other places, even though governors lift business restrictions, said Wen, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University who was former health commissioner at Baltimore.
The CDC is missing a major opportunity to link vaccination status to reopening. Coming out with such limited guidance, they lack the window to influence state and national policy, “Wen said in an e-mail.
The CDC did not talk to people who could get a certain level of immunity from being infected and recovering from coronavirus.