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CDC Issues New Recommendations
CDC laboratory robot performing SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing.
On March 8, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that people who are fully vaccinated can gather indoors with others who are also fully vaccinated without wearing a mask or social distancing.
“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 Dr. Rochelle Walensky, in a statement.
This means that vaccinated people can also socialize with low-risk people such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren. However, the CDC recommends that people who are fully vaccinated continued to wear masks, distance themselves from others in public and avoid large gatherings. If they develop symptoms, vaccinated people should get tested for the virus.
However, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is encouraging people to state at home as much as possible and continue to wear masks in person, avoid large in-person gatherings, practice social distancing and wash their hands often with soap and water. The Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest hit areas by the virus, with a 16.6 percent overall positivity rate since the pandemic began over a year ago. The positivity rate over the past week has dropped to 5.9 percent.
“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love.”
– CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky
“Mutations or variants of the COVID-19 virus continue to spread, and we won’t know the extent of the impacts for some time,” he said. “Until we know, it’s important that we continue to take all precautions to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and healthy. “
The Navajo Nation health care facilities are also administering COVID-19 vaccines by appointment or through drive-through events. For more information, please contact your health care provider. The nation’s 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew order will remain in effect through March 15. In its fight against COVID-19, the Indian Health Service continues to administer the COVID-19 vaccine and has provided 670,393 doses as of March 8. There have been 1,125,565 doses distributed across Indian Country, according to @IHSgov.
The Navajo Nation has reported that more than 1,200 have died from the virus in the past year. This is despite the declining number of COVID cases in the past few weeks. There has been a total of 187,321 cases of COVID-19 reported to the Indian Health Service as of March 6. Elsewhere, IHS reports that California has a 11.5 percent positivity rate over the past seven days. Other positivity rates continue to drop.
