As more people throughout the country receive COVID-19 vaccines, hope has begun to spread that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for this pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines last week for those who have been vaccinated, giving them a tiny bit more freedom to resume their pre-pandemic lives.
“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement. “Everyone – even those who are vaccinated – should continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings. As the science evolves and more people get vaccinated, we will continue to provide more guidance to help fully vaccinated people safely resume more activities.”
Those who have been fully vaccinated can now visit others who have been vaccinated, or unvaccinated people from one household who are low-risk, without masks or social distancing, and do not need to quarantine or get tested if they show no symptoms after coming into contact with someone with COVID-19.
The CDC considers someone fully vaccinated two weeks after they receive their final required dose of the vaccine.
Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and social distance when interacting with people they do not live with, avoid medium- or large-sized gatherings and get tested if they experience symptoms.
Stacey Glixman-Padulsky, of Marblehead, said that even though she is receiving the first dose of the vaccine this weekend, she will always wear a mask, because no one is 100 percent sure about this disease.
“I would never not wear a mask,” she said. “It just doesn’t stop like that. Everything is up in the air and I’m not going to risk my life.”
Glixman-Padulsky’s parents and husband were all hospitalized due to COVID-19. She is thankful that her husband and her parents made it out of the hospital alive and she doesn’t want to risk something like that happening again.
“It’s scary and people don’t understand how bad it was,” she said. “We are far from ending this soon.”
Briana Silva, a Lynn resident and milieu counselor at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that she is fully vaccinated and no longer afraid of spreading the disease to her parents. However, she still wears a mask around her brother and his wife, who had twins last year at the height of the pandemic, and will continue to do so until they are vaccinated.
“I am more open about going out to dinner and shops, because I will be protected, as well as my parents,” Silva said. “I will still continue to wear masks until it is safe to take them off, and exercise frequent hand washing and sanitizing.”
