CDC Allows COVID-19 Vaccinated People To Meet Indoors Without Masks

Over one year ago, the United States government introduced a strict COVID-19 protocol that restricts how people associate when in public and private gatherings. Now that about 59 million Americans have been vaccinated, the CDC is starting to relax some of these measures.

When president Biden was sworn in as the new American president, he announced an ambitious target of vaccinating up to 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. With over 59 million already vaccinated, his goal of 100 million is still in sight. Out of these 59 million, about 30.7 (around 9% of the US population) have received both vaccine doses. 

According to the CDC, only three vaccines are being recommended and authorized for preventing COVID-19  in the USA. These vaccines are Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen. Thus, if you live in the USA, these are the only vaccines you will have access to. 

Two other vaccines are in phase three clinical trials, being the AstraZeneca and Novavax doses. After experts have verified that these two vaccines are safe, they will be added to the three that are currently used in the USA, which may speed up the process. 

Now that over 30 million citizens have begun to develop immunization, the CDC announced that fully COVID-19 vaccinated people can attend indoor meetings without wearing masks. Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said “There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in the privacy of their own homes. Everyone — even those who are vaccinated — should continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings.”

One is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine or two weeks after their second dose of Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna. 

Now that more people are being vaccinated, we expect several states in the USA to start relaxing most of their COVID-19 measures. Several states like Texas, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, and many more no longer have mask mandates. We also expect states like Washington, California, and LA that still have mask mandates to ease up in the next few months as more Americans get vaccinated. 

The pandemic has claimed over half a million lives in the USA out of the 29.5 million that contracted the virus. Today, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the USA stands at around 7.5 million, with a majority of them being mild. Live tracking can be found here.