By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of New York

Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

March 8, 2021

CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust.Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.

Topics: CDC guidance for fully vaccinated folks. (Note to our TV/Movie production clients: there is a big change for post-exposure isolation and testing)

CDC Guidance for the fully vaccinated Today, the long awaited CDC guidance for folks who are fully vaccinated came out. So lets review what it said. The new guidance is based on what is known about the three vaccines being administered in the US as well as the variants that are circulating. The key assumptions to consider in the new guidance are these: * The three vaccines used in the US are effective against CoViD-19 especially in their ability to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death * The current vaccines provide at least some protection against variants, especially the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant which is expected to become the dominant strain soon. They are less effective against the B.1.351 (South African) strain. * Preliminary evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit infection to others * Modeling studies suggest that preventive measures such as mask use and social distancing will continue to be important during vaccine implementation. However, there are ways to take a balanced approach by allowing vaccinated people to resume some lower-risk activities. * Last but not least, the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus. Vaccinated people could potentially still get COVID-19 and spread it to others. However, the benefits of relaxing some measures such as quarantine requirements and reducing social isolation may outweigh the residual risk of fully vaccinated people becoming ill with COVID-19 or transmitting the virus to others. So what is a fully vaccinated person. Its simple. A person is covered and considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the completion of their vaccination schedule. So its two weeks after the second Moderna or Pfizer shot or two weeks after the J&J single shot. You are NOT covered two weeks after the first Moderna or Pfizer shot, you must wait until after the second shot. So what does the guidance say (this will be a bit long, so prepare yourself) about Indoor visits and Isolation, Quarantine and Testing: Indoor Visits * Small gatherings represent minimal risk to fully vaccinated people but still present a risk to unvaccinated people. Medium to large gatherings present an increased risk of disease transmission. * Fully vaccinated people with CoVid-19 symptoms or who have tested positive for CoVid-19 within the last 10 days should not visit others. * Have Dinner Parties: Indoor visits between fully vaccinated people who do not wear masks or physically distance from one another is considered low risk. So if you are fully vaccinated, you can have other fully vaccinated people over for a normal dinner party in your residence (i.e. without wearing masks or physical distancing). * Visit Your Grandchildren: Fully vaccinated people can visit indoors with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease without wearing masks or physical distancing. The visit is not risky for the vaccinated people but might be for the unvaccinated people. Don’t visit unvaccinated people with a risk of severe CoViD-19 disease (older adults over 65 years, pregnant women, people with medical conditions). So for example, if you are a fully vaccinated grandparent and you want to visit your kids and grandkids and they are not at risk for severe disease, then you can without wearing a mask or socially distancing. You can only visit one household of people. It is not safe to visit multiple households of unvaccinated people together. The people you visit must be from a single household living together. If there are multiple people from different households together, then everyone must wear masks, keep socially distant and get together outdoors. * Medium or Large Gatherings: All people, regardless of vaccination status should still avoid medium or large gatherings. If you choose to participate, then wear well fitted mask, maintain 6 feet of distance and wash your hands after touching surfaces. * Public Settings such as indoor restaurant dining or going to the gym: The risk is lower for fully vaccinated people but you can still catch CoViD-19 and spread it to others so the recommendation for social activities in public settings is to wearing a well-fitted mask, maintaining physical distance (at least 6 feet), avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, and washing hands frequently. Isolation, Quarantine and Testing This is a big change. Fully vaccinated people with no COVID-like symptoms do not need to quarantine or be tested following an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, as their risk of infection is low. You still need to watch for symptoms for 14 days and if you develop any, you must isolate yourself and be evaluated for CoViD-19 including testing. Travel At this time, the CDC did not update any travel recommendation. Their existing recommendations can be found here. So Life slowly begins to get back to normal. We MUST NOT ruin this by relaxing precautions too fast. We still don’t know what B.1.1.7 will do in the US. Nationally, new case numbers are starting to decline again after plateauing for the past week. At the same time, some states are rushing to repeat their past mistakes by relaxing precautions too fast. When you are eligible, get your self vaccinated so we can get through this together. . Dr. Stu Weiss

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY

Coronavirus update for March 8, 2021

World Wide Updates Iraq extends Covid-19 restrictive measures for two more weeks Italy becomes 6th country to record more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths Rio de Janeiro ICU occupancy reaches 96%, official says Hospitals in Paris ordered to cancel up to 40% of scheduled procedures European Commission President says more vaccines are coming, stresses EU “cohesion” Syrian President and his wife test positive for Covid-19 Belgium eases lockdown restrictions as doctors face suspension for spreading disinformation Italy approves AstraZeneca vaccine for over-65s 32% of global destinations are closed to international tourism as governments tighten restrictions, UN report says Brazil reports largest single-day surge in new coronavirus cases in 2 months China launching program to vaccinate Chinese nationals overseas Toronto overrun by raccoons during COVID-19 lockdown, report says China’s Sinovac jab effective against Brazil variant, preliminary study suggests Italy surpasses 100,000 coronavirus deaths Thailand to reduce mandatory quarantine from 14 to 7 days from April Most Dutch coronavirus restrictions remain in place with evening curfew extended till March 31 and foreign travel advised against until mid April Singapore Airlines to pilot digital Covid travel pass In Japan, vending machines help ease access to COVID-19 tests 3,000 at Romania anti-vaccination protest amid COVID-19 rise World on the brink of fourth wave of coronavirus Chinese exports spike to highest in decades after Covid-19 hit Virus reaches previously Covid-free New Caledonia A quick swab and a boarding pass are required as Israel’s El Al launches check-in Covid-19 test Cigna sees boost to earnings from Covid impact fading in 2022 Russian disinformation campaign working to undermine confidence in Covid-19 vaccines used in US Rich countries hoarding COVID-19 vaccines are making a mistake that could worsen their own death tolls, experts say Total Cases Worldwide: 117,706,136 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,610,562 Total Recovered: 93,328,120 US Updates New York City high schoolers can go back to the classroom for in-person learning on March 22 March and April are critical months to stop another coronavirus surge, CDC director says Ohio governor will mark March 9 as date of remembrance for lives lost to Covid-19 More than 60 million people in the US have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine Biden says he will sign $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill “as soon as I get it” Vaccination rates are “significantly lower” among minority communities, White House adviser says Wyoming is removing its statewide mask requirement, governor says Chicago will allow some fans back into baseball stadiums in April, mayor says Pennsylvania has administered almost 3 million vaccine doses Biden will deliver primetime address Thursday to mark one-year of Covid-19 shutdown Vaccinated Americans should still avoid travel, CDC head says Ohio will expand Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to include people age 50 and older House vote on Biden $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill delayed until Wednesday New CDC guidance give some limited freedoms to people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 US surpasses 29 million confirmed Covid-19 cases New York City vaccinated more than 100,000 people this weekend, the mayor says More people in US fully vaccinated than people who have had the disease since the pandemic began Air travel levels are at their highest since early January, TSA stats show Snowbirds are ‘taking away’ Covid vaccines ‘from locals’ in small Arizona town Parents and kids burn masks in Idaho, a state with no mask mandate Pandemic had ‘extremely unfair’ impact on women’s incomes, US treasury secretary says House vote on Covid relief bill will be “Wednesday morning at the latest,” Pelosi says  ‘Mask off’ party to celebrate Texas lifting mandates blasted by officials Students aren’t learning to read during COVID-19, but ‘expectations are no different’ Spring-break partying falls victim to COVID-19 crisis South Dakota reaches 1,900 deaths due to coronavirus Ohio man hospitalized after accidentally getting two COVID shots in one day Total US cases: 29,733,322 Total US deaths: 538,459 Total Recovered: 20,409,422 Total Tested in US: 359,724,291 Total cases in CA: 3,601,803 Total deaths in CA: 54,314 Total cases in TX: 2,700,984 Total deaths in TX: 45,634 Total cases in FL: 1,948,307 Total deaths in FL: 31,764 Total cases in NY: 1,737,447 Total deaths in NY: 48,637 Total cases in IL: 1,199,517 Total deaths in IL: 23,020 Total cases in GA: 1,024,931 Total death in GA: 17,948 Total Vaccines Administered in US: 92,089,852 Contact us iCrowd.com website