According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 105 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That means almost one third of the population has gotten their Johnson & Johnson shot or has received the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in at least the prior two weeks.
That’s truly amazing progress in just the first four months of the year, and the COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality numbers certainly reflect that. It doesn’t mean the pandemic has come to an end by any means, but it does show that we’re moving steadily in the right direction.
In light of these improvements, the CDC has issued some new guidance that gives fully vaccinated adults a chance to start “getting back to normal” again. And with Mother’s Day coming up – a holiday all about families – that’s great news.
Here’s what the CDC’s April 27 guidance suggests fully vaccinated people can now do safely:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Visit with unvaccinated people (including children) from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Participate in outdoor activities and recreation without a mask, except in certain crowded settings and venues
- Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel
- Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States
- Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
- Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
- Refrain from routine screening testing if asymptomatic and feasible
While this is a great news, fully vaccinated people should continue to take precautions in indoor public settings like wearing a well-fitted mask. Stopping the COVID-19 pandemic requires using all the means we have available—including masking, handwashing, physically distancing and vaccination.
For so many of us who’ve had to avoid seeing parents over the last year, these new allowances are a long-awaited blessing. So how do you make this Mother’s Day memorable? Here are some suggestions for the fully vaccinated:
- Travel to visit your mom in person
- Give her a long hug
- Plan a picnic
- Have a small party
- Go for a walk and enjoy nature together
If you’re not yet fully vaccinated, you’ll need to continue to avoid in-person gatherings with people outside your immediate household. But you can still have a memorable Mother’s Day. Here are a few socially distant celebrations to consider:
- Write special messages on her driveway
- Decorate her front door
- Have flowers delivered
- Plan a virtual get-together
- Send her a "spa at home" package
Stopping the COVID-19 pandemic means continuing to use every tool we have available — including vaccination, masking, social distancing, and hand washing. But the sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner a whole host of “normal” activities open up. Now it is your opportunity to get the shot – for yourself and all the people you love.