CDC finalizing guidelines for life post-vaccine
Although the Centers for Disease Control is working on guidelines for life after COVID, they have yet to release them to the public
Health experts say just because people are getting vaccinated does not mean the country is ready to go back to normal.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is crafting guidelines for those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine. But despite taking the drug the regulations are still pretty tight, per Politico. As of Friday, there is no word yet when the instructions will be released.
Despite the release of the vaccines some experts are concerned there could be another surge in cases as people become more relaxed with taking precautions.
But on Monday, at a White House COVID briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed “doubly vaccinated” folks have low risk — “so low that you would not have to wear a mask, that you could have a good social gathering within the home.”
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires one dose while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two.
Those who have been vaccinated are instructed to still wear a mask and social distance from others. They also recommend still “gathering virtually or with the people you live with is the safest choice,” per CBS News.
At the briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced she is “deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,” as states like Arkansas, New York, and Massachusetts loosen restrictions.
“The goal in those first 100 days has always been to sort of make sure that we are in a place to be out of this pandemic,” she adds. “At 70,000 cases per day, we’re not in that place right now.”
There has been a decrease in COVID-19 cases but Walensky argues that does not mean its time to loosen up, as previously reported by theGrio,
“It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down, but they’re coming down from an extraordinarily high place,” said CDC Director Dr. Walensky told NBC.
“If we want to get our children back to school, and I believe we all do, it all depends on how much community spread is out there.”
Since the holiday season, the number of deaths is still concerningly high but there is a decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
“It’s what we’re doing right: staying apart, wearing masks, not traveling, not mixing with others indoors,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The seven-day average of new coronavirus cases is down from the 250,000 new case average we saw in early January, per Johns Hopkins University.
But despite the decline as a country we have a way to go. An average of 3,000 daily are still losing their lives to the virus.
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At this point, more than 14 million Americans have taken both doses of the vaccine but it does take a few weeks to become effective and that number only represents about 4% of the US population.
Also, new variants of the virus are spreading so Americans are urged to still take precautions.
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