On Tuesday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, announced that people who have acquired the complete vaccine are now allowed to attend indoor worship meetings, but with a caveat: they should still wear face masks when they do..
"As we gather more and more data on the real-world efficacy of vaccines, we know that masked, fully vaccinated people can safely attend worship services inside, "she said and added that "until more people are vaccinated and while we still have more than 50,000 cases a day, mask use indoors will provide extra protection."
Dr. Walensky also noted that the more people who are vaccinated, the more likely they are to be able to do more of the activities they love like dining outside or joining an indoor fitness class.
CDC states that over 230 million Americans had gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while almost 100 million people have received a full vaccination.
Their Recommendations
Per the new guidelines issued by the organization, all who have been vaccinated with both doses of the of COVID-19 vaccine are allowed to resume their activities that were disrupted by the pandemic, reports Faithwire. There are, however, guidelines on whether or not vaccinated individuals can continue to wear masks.
In the graphic released by the CDC, completely vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear masks outside except when they're in "a crowded place" or they're participating in an outdoor event "like a live performance, parade, or sports event."
Fully vaccinated Americans are still advised to always wear masks once they enter public spaces.
The upside in the revised guidelines states that fully vaccinated people can resume a wide range of daily activities, including meeting indoors with other fully vaccinated people without masks or physical distancing. They could even gather indoors with unvaccinated persons of any age from another household.
Vaccinated people who are traveling no longer need to get tested for COVID-19 before or after traveling. The CDC did state though that vaccinated Americans returning from an international trip should still get tested for COVID-19 three to five days after their return in the United States.
People that already had been vaccinated do not need to be screened for the virus and need not quarantine themselves even if they had contact with someone who has been infected by COVID-19. However, those who work or live in a group set-up should still isolate themselves for 14 days apart and to get tested even though they show no signs of infection.
What They're Still Learning
CDC states that they're still studying the vaccines' efficacy against strains of the virus that triggers COVID-19. According to preliminary results, vaccinations could be effective against certain variants but may be less efficient against others.
They're also trying to see the duration of protection provided by COVID-vaccines potential against re-emergence and how it can effectively prevent disease transmission on people.
Another concern is how well vaccinations can protect individuals with compromised immune systems, such as those on immunosuppressive drugs.
