FULLY vaccinated Americans can gather in groups indoors without masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

However, those who have had the jab should still wear a face covering in public.

The CDC released the new guidelines on Monday morning.

The long-awaited guidance from the CDC begins the process of providing clarity to Americans anxious to learn how the nation will begin returning to normalcy as vaccinations ramp up.

Under the guidelines, fully vaccinated people could gather in groups without masks or social distancing.

Vaccinated people could also come together in the same way with people considered at low risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting a healthy child and grandchildren.

The CDC says people are not considered “fully vaccinated” until two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine.

The agency is continuing to recommend that fully vaccinated people continue to wear well-fitted masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when out in public.

The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

About 30 million Americans or only about nine percent of the US population have been fully vaccinated with a federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine so far, according to the CDC.

Shortly before the White House held the press conference, the president tweeted that "last week was a big week" regarding Covid.

Biden wrote: "From rolling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to securing enough doses for every American by the end of May — last week was a big week, but we still have further to go.

"Please keep wearing masks, stay socially distanced, and get vaccinated when it’s your turn."

Over the weekend an investigation revealed that coronavirus vaccines had no link with the deaths of eight people with underlying health conditions.

Health officials in South Korea said there was no evidence that proved that the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot played a role in the deaths of the patients who had "adverse reactions" to the jab.

It comes after an investigation was launched into their deaths last week.

At the end of February, South Korean officials started to rollout their Covid vaccine programme – jabbing residents and workers at nursing homes and other at-risk individuals.

However, at the start of the rollout in South Korea, people aged over 65 were not being given the jab after health regulators in the country stated that more data on efficacy was needed on the age group.

Today the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said a panel had recommended that the jab could be given to those in older age groups.

It also confirmed that the Oxford jab had not played a role in the deaths.

In a statement the regulator said: "We’ve tentatively concluded that it was difficult to establish any link between their adverse reaction after being vaccinated, and their deaths."

Source: Read Full Article