The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are finalizing guidelines to clarify what Americans have received Covid-19 Vaccines According to two sources at the bureau who are familiar with drafting it, do and should not do.
The upcoming guideline, first reported by Politico, is expected to require fully vaccinated individuals to be able to gather in small groups with other people who have also been vaccinated. The CDC currently does not recommend in-person meetings with the general public, saying that “meeting virtually or with the people you live with is the safest choice.”
Even for people who are fully vaccinated, other mitigating measures will still be recommended, including wearing a mask in public and social aloofness.
A source at the CDC familiar with the guidelines confirms it will not be released Thursday, when it is expected to be. There was no word as to when it would be released.
During the White House’s COVID-19 response briefing on Monday, President Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, hints at the guidelines by saying that small gatherings among people who are “double vaccinated” have a low risk – “so low that you shouldn’t have to wear a mask so you can have a good social gathering at home. to hold. ”
Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses; Johnson & JohnsonOnly one shot is needed. That vaccine received an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend, and doses are being administered this week.
Guidance comes as the nation is at a crossroads in its fight against the virus. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, mean daily cases across the country have fallen by more than 50% in the past month, but that progress has slowed. Over the past week, data from the CDC indicates that the average number of new cases is up nearly 2%.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at Monday’s briefing that she “remained deeply concerned about a possible shift in the pandemic trajectory.” States across the country, including New York, Massachusetts, and Arkansas, are relaxing COVID-related restrictions on businesses, raising fears that the US could be on the alert too soon. On Tuesday, Texas became the third state to revoke its statewide mask mandate in recent days, joining Montana and Iowa.
At the same time, the pace of vaccinations continues to pick up, and with more Americans vaccinated, the need for new guidelines on what this population can do safely has increased. But Walensky stressed that now is not the time to move on or ignore other security measures.
“The goal in those first 100 days has always been to make sure we are in a place to get out of this pandemic,” she said. “With 70,000 cases per day, we are currently not in that place.”