The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are finalizing guidelines to clarify what Americans have received Vaccines for covid-19 should and should not do, according to two sources at the agency familiar with its wording.
It is hoped that the next guidance, first reported by the Politician, will include that fully vaccinated individuals can meet in small groups with others who have also been vaccinated. The CDC currently 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 choice.”
Even for people who have already been fully vaccinated, other mitigation measures will still be recommended, including wearing a mask in public and social distance.
A source at the CDC who knows the guidance confirms that it will not be released Thursday when it was expected. There was no word on when it would be issued.
At the White House’s COVID-19 response briefing on Monday, President Biden’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted the guidance by saying that small meetings between people who are “doubly vaccinated” are low risk – “so low that you wouldn’t have to wear a mask, so that you can have a good social gathering indoors.”
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 starting to be administered this week.
The guidance comes at a time when the country is at a crossroads in the fight against the virus. Last month, the average number of daily cases across the country fell by more than 50%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, but progress has stalled. In the last week, data from the CDC indicate that the average of new cases has increased by almost 2%.
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at Monday’s briefing that she remained “deeply concerned about a possible change in the path of the pandemic.” States across the country, including New York, Massachusetts and Arkansas, are easing COVID-related restrictions on companies, raising fears that the United States may be letting its guard down 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 more Americans vaccinated, the need for new guidance on what this population can safely do has increased. But Walensky stressed that now is not the time to resume travel or disregard other security measures.
“The goal in those first 100 days has always been to make sure that we are in a place to escape this pandemic,” she said. “With 70,000 cases a day, we are not in that place right now.”