Exciting new guidance for vaccinated people
Dear Reader,
People who are fully vaccinated can now hang out indoors in small groups without masks, according to a new update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This very welcome change comes with a bonus piece of good news: One fully vaccinated household can socialize indoors with one household of unvaccinated people, as long as nobody in the latter is at risk for severe Covid-19, as Dana G Smith points out on the Blog.
The new rules open the door to an “almost-normal summer,” as infectious disease specialist Abraar Karan MD, MPH, DTM&H, put it on Elemental. Almost is the key word here: Proper masking and distancing, together with vaccination, have helped bring down the number of new cases and deaths, but we’re not in the clear yet. Karan says we should keep doing these things as well as stay outdoors and maintain good ventilation whenever possible.
It’s been encouraging to think about how far we’ve come, especially as the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches (the World Health Organization declared it on March 11, 2020). At this time, I encourage you to be mindful about your mental health. Media coverage of the anniversary could resurface some difficult memories, say disaster experts in this helpful Elemental piece by Colleen Hagerty, and for many, the worst effects of Covid-19 are still lingering or only just beginning. Get off social media if you need to, and rest assured that what you’re feeling is valid and normal.
As always, I’d love to know how you’re doing. Feel free to drop me a line at yasmin@medium.com.
Stay safe and stay hopeful,
Yasmin Tayag
Editor, Medium Coronavirus Blog
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A quick Q&A: What is “long Covid” and how can it be treated?
Many people who have had Covid-19 experience long-term symptoms well after their infection has passed. Known colloquially as “long Covid,” these symptoms include fatigue, body aches, trouble breathing and focusing, and, in some people, nausea and diarrhea. It’s still not clear what causes it, but getting vaccinated appears to ease some of the symptoms. In Elemental, Yale immunology professor Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, explains why this might be the case, noting that long Covid may actually consist of “multiple types of diseases.”
New on the Blog
- Weekly Public Health Update: Keep Your Mask On and Your Guard Up
- Swollen Lymph Nodes: Cancer or Covid-19 Vaccine Reaction?
- ‘Covid Arm’ Rash After the Moderna Shot Is Common But Not Worrisome
- CDC Says Fully Vaccinated People Can Socialize Indoors, Unmasked
Essential explainers
- Why the Vaccine Rollout in These 3 States Is Working Well
- How the Pandemic Changed You and Your Brain
- How to Have an Almost-Normal Summer
- How the Covid-19 Anniversary Might Mess With Your Head
