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Fully vaccinated Americans will gather indoors with other vaccinated citizens without wearing masks or social distances, according to long-awaited guidelines from federal health officials. The guidelines also state that vaccinated individuals should come together in the same way—in a single household—with people deemed at low risk for serious illnesses, such as those of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.
The guidance was released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More adults are getting vaccinated, and they’re curious if it gives them more freedom to visit relatives, fly, or do other things like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe last year.
“We are beginning to turn a corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, “with more and more people vaccinated every day.”
She described the guidelines as a “first step” toward restoring normalcy in how people interact during a press conference on Monday. She believes that as caseloads and deaths decrease, more Americans are vaccinated, and more evidence develops about the potential of those who have been vaccinated to catch and transmit the virus, more activities for vaccinated people would be permitted.
Completely vaccinated people should also wear well-fitted masks, avoid big crowds, and keep a safe distance from others while out in public, according to the CDC. Vaccinated people should also get screened if they develop symptoms that may be caused by COVID-19, according to the CDC.
The CDC’s advice was silent about whether or not people who had been infected with the coronavirus and recovered had acquired some immunity.
The first approved vaccine doses were made available in December, and they were two-dose items spaced weeks apart. However, since January, a small but the number of Americans have been completely vaccinated, prompting questions such as: Do I still need to wear a mask? Is it possible for me to go to a bar right now? Is it possible for me to actually see my grandchildren?
Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the CDC, said the guidance was “welcome news to a country that is understandably weary of the pandemic and longs to safely resume routine activities.”
The advice is rational in many ways, according to Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Public Health.
The CDC’s travel advice remains unchanged, emphasizing the importance of getting checked within a few days of a trip and avoiding excessive travel. Vaccinated people planning trips to see family around the country or abroad may find this confusing.
According to Khan, a former CDC disease detective, “they need to relax travel for those vaccinated” and “immediately publish electronic requirements for documentation that indicate whether an individual is completely vaccinated.”
Even though governors are relaxing restrictions on businesses, the new guidance says nothing about going to restaurants or other locations, according to Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University who was previously Baltimore’s health commissioner.
However, the news on Monday pleased some people who are completely vaccinated.
On Monday morning, Ruth Michienzi was one of those who received her final vaccine dose at a pharmacy inside a Stop and Shop store in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Michienzi, on the other hand, expressed delight at the prospect of removing her mask in front of her three great-grandchildren. Since her first shot about a month ago, she’s seen them in person but kept her mask on.
She expressed her expectation, saying, “I hope they remember me.”
Even as more people became vaccinated, a couple of customers who weren’t in line for vaccinations explicitly complained about the continued limitations and expressed concerns that tighter travel and socializing restrictions will follow.
At the same store, Grace McShane, 61, of Melrose, got her second dose.
She claims she was eligible for the vaccine because she is at high risk, citing a heart attack last year as an example. And though she had been vaccinated, the in-home caregiver said she was comfortable with the limitations.
“It’s safer to be safe than sorry, even though you’re vaccinated. The new standard has arrived. “It’s just a part of life,” McShane said.
She said she can’t wait to embrace her three grandchildren without wearing a mask. As critical staff, she said, her grown children have also been vaccinated.
McShane said, “Just cuddle them and give them hugs.” “What I want to do is that.”
