New COVID Guidelines For The Vaccinated

With more Americans being vaccinated by the day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new COVID guidelines for those who have been vaccinated.

Current Events
After getting the vaccine, Americans have posed some very valid questions:

“Can I stop wearing a mask?”
“Can I go on a vacation?”
“Can I finally hug my elderly parents?”

Interestingly, the rule of thumb is to NOT think of the vaccine as a magic bullet that will turn back the clock to pre-March of 2020.  Variants of the virus are floating around and still being discovered.  Additionally, scientists are choosing to err on the side of caution instead of a rapid return to normalcy.

With that said, the CDC issued new COVID guidelines earlier this week for those who have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine (or the required single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine).

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According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic.

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The CDC also recommended that fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing.
• Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease.
• Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households.
• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings.
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers.
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations.

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“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement about the new guidelines.

So, the good news is that new COVID guidelines will permit 2 fully vaccinated people to visit with each other without having to wear masks, and small gatherings with 1 fully vaccinated person and maybe 2 others from outside the household may safely gather — so long as everyone wears a mask.

However, the not-so-good news is that any hopes of the vaccine leading to a life of “normalcy” is still a no-go.

Interestingly, the CDC has come under fire for recommending that gatherings between 2 fully vaccinated people are OK, but flying on a plane with other fully vaccinated or recently tested as negative passengers is not OK.

“Every time there’s a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country,” Dr. Walensky said on Monday.

However, airlines are pushing back for what they say is a blatant double-standard.

In a statement, Airlines For America insisted that being on a plane poses a low risk of coronavirus infection because of heavily filtered air and federally mandated mask-wearing.

“We remain confident that this layered approach significantly reduces risk,” the group said.

According to the CDC, fully vaccinated Americans may begin to follow the new COVID guidelines immediately.

OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
New COVID guidelines released by the CDC.