A glimpse of what a new normal might look like arrived Monday as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released guidance for fully vaccinated individuals.
The guidance gives those with full vaccinations the freedom to socialize and no longer quarantine after a known exposure.
The CDC considers people fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing. They can also visit unvaccinated people from a single household indoors without masks or physical distancing who are at a low risk for severe COVID-19.
Fully vaccinated people do not need to quarantine or get a test following a known exposure to someone who was symptomatic. The guidance only applies to non-healthcare settings.
Precautions should still be taken for visiting public settings such as indoor dining or going to the gym.
While the guidance shows an end in sight to the pandemic, the CDC has not updated its travel recommendations and requirements, which recommends delaying travel and staying home.
The CDC still recommends wearing a mask, social distancing, and being outdoors if a vaccinated person visits an unvaccinated person who is at risk of severe COVID-19 such as older adults, pregnant people, and those with medical conditions.
The guidelines request that even after getting both doses of the vaccination or the single shot should continue to wear masks in public, practice social distancing, avoid medium and large gatherings, get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and adhere to other prevention measures.
Three new COVID cases Monday
The Martha’s Vineyard boards of health reported three new cases from over the weekend — two on Sunday and one on Monday.
The hospital has conducted 14,311 tests for COVID-19 since March. Of those, 663 have tested positive, and 13,616 negative. There are 32 tests pending results. One patient is currently hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Monday, TestMV has conducted 34,492 tests since June. Of those, 258 have tested positive, 33,617 negative, and 617 are pending results.
The town of Aquinnah has conducted 442 tests, of which one has come back positive, 431 negative, and 10 pending results.
The Martha’s Vineyard public schools have tested 6,131 individuals. Of those, four have tested positive. The public school data is updated once a week on Mondays and this week there were no new cases.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has reported a total of seven positive cases of COVID-19.
