U.S. CDC OKs GATHERINGS OF FULLY-VACCINATED PEOPLE SANS MASKS

Fully-vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials, Mike Stobbe reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.

“It’s good news for grandparents who have refrained from seeing their children and grandchildren during the past year. But even the fully vaccinated should still adhere to wearing masks and social distancing in public spaces,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced, Victoria Shannon and Judith Levitt also wrote for the New York Times.

“With more and more people vaccinated each day, we are starting to turn a corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. During a press briefing Monday, she called the guidance a “first step” toward restoring normalcy in how people come together.

She said more activities would be approved for vaccinated individuals once caseloads and deaths decline, more Americans are vaccinated, and as more science emerges on the ability of those who have been vaccinated to get and spread the virus.

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