Pennsylvania is facilitating masking guidelines for people who have been fully vaccinated. The change comes at a time when the state is seeing a slight increase in cases, and health experts say people still need to act cautiously.
“I think people should still wear the mask, distance themselves socially and wash their hands,” said Debra Powell, head of infectious diseases at Reading Hospital. Urging caution, she added: “We are not out of this pandemic yet.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is reviewing the state’s masking order to align it with recent guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, fully vaccinated people can meet other vaccinated people without masks or social detachment. The new rules also apply to vaccinated people who meet with people from the same family who have not been vaccinated but who are considered to be at low risk.
Some European countries have imposed new blocking restrictions or are considering tightening their rules as cases increase. In Berks County, there were more than 31,000 confirmed cases and more than 900 deaths.
“We saw a lull about two weeks ago here in our health care system and now we are seeing a certain increase in cases,” said Powell. “Not as we’ve seen before, but it’s trending up a little bit.”
Doubts remain about how long the vaccines will be effective in providing immunity against COVID-19, but doctors say the vaccine is likely to be effective for between six months and two years. As new variants of the virus emerge, some of which are more easily transmitted, the effectiveness of the current vaccine can be put to the test.
“When you see new variants circulating, like the South African variant, the previous vaccines may not work as well for her, so we may need reinforcements annually to keep this under control – much like what we do with the flu shot. , “Powell said.
Pennsylvania has administered more than 4 million doses of the vaccine. More than 1.5 million people in Pennsylvania have been fully vaccinated, including more than 40,000 in Berks County.
“We must anticipate the arrival of more variants,” added Powell. “Our behavior will now reflect what will happen in a month.”