The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing guidelines to clarify what Americans have received Vaccines against covid-19 it should and shouldn’t, according to two agency sources familiar with its wording.
The next guide, first published by Politico, is expected to include that fully vaccinated people should be able to meet in small groups with other people who have also been vaccinated. Currently, CDC does not recommend face-to-face meetings with the general public, saying that “meeting virtually or with the people you live with is the safest option.”
Even for people who have been completely vaccinated, other mitigation measures will be recommended, including wearing a mask for public and social distancing.
Sources do not specify when exactly this guidance will be published, but one said it would be published when it is completed “later this week.”
At the White House response briefing on COVID-19 on Monday, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, advanced the guidelines by saying small meetings between people who are “doubly vaccinated” have a low risk – “so low you wouldn’t” you have to wear a mask so you can have a good social gathering at home “.
Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses; Johnson & Johnsonit will only require one shot. This vaccine received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend and doses are being administered this week.
The guide arrives when the nation is at a crossroads in its fight against the virus. In the last month, the national daily average has fallen by more than 50%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, but this progress has been advanced. Last week, CDC data indicate that the average number of new cases has risen by almost 2%.
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in Monday’s briefing that she remained “deeply concerned about a possible change in the trajectory of the pandemic.” States across the country, including New York, Massachusetts and Arkansas, are loosening COVID-related restrictions on businesses, raising fears that the US could leave the guard too soon. On Tuesday, Texas became the third state to terminate its state mask mandate in recent days, joining Montana and Iowa.
At the same time, the pace of vaccinations continues to increase, and with the vaccination of more Americans, the need for new directions on what this population can do safely has grown. But Walensky has stressed that now is not the time to resume travel or dispense with other security measures.
“The goal of those first 100 days has always been to make sure we are in a place to get out of this pandemic,” he said. “In 70,000 cases a day, we’re not in this place right now.”