By Samuetta Hill Drew
The United States COVID-19 safety strategy involves getting one of the three federally authorized vaccines in the arms of citizens. This process has rapidly increased since December. Researchers have estimated that around 70 to 85 percent of the U.S. needs to be immune to the coronavirus for COVID-19 to stop spreading it through the communities and slowly peter out.
At the beginning of March, the U.S. started administrating two million shots per day. The country has surpassed President Biden’s initial goal of 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days. Because of the increased ordering and distribution of vaccines, along with the expansion of vaccine sites throughout the country to both urban and rural areas, Biden has doubled his goal to 200 million vaccines by the end of April.
If you are one of those millions of individuals who have received their two vaccine doses or your single dose from Johnson & Johnson, then your next question is “What can I safely do now?” The next few articles will review the answers to this question. All the information will be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or other medical or scientific entities. Again, some information may be directly quoted from these entities to ensure the information’s accuracy.
Many of you want to know can you stop wearing a face mask? The answer is “no.” Experts want you to consider your face mask as your new best friend, one that you plan to cherish for a good, long time. It is recommended you continue to practice COVID-19 precautions in public places like wearing your face mask, staying six feet apart from others, and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces until more information is known about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
The vaccines will account for some new positive changes in your lifestyle. Some new dos by the CDC are:
- You can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
- You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- If you have been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms. This does not apply to individuals who live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home). These individuals should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested.
Keeping an Eye on Safety remains important for you and the community at large, even after the vaccines.
