28.03.2024

Mask-Related Questions Arise As CDC Issues New Guidance

Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccinated people will be reasonably safe without masks, gathering indoors with other vaccinated people. It means grandparents can visit with family members, including grandchildren of the same household without masks or physical distancing. It doesn’t yet mean dropping the masks in other places.

The topic of mask wearing was on a lot of minds Monday after the CDC issued guidance for people two weeks past their full vaccination. Experts believe people who are vaccinated, will still have infections with COVID-19, but those cases should be mild.

It does have people thinking about it. Married couple Laura and Randy Neilson are on either side.

“I think it’s time to drop the masks and get back to business and get back to being Colorado,” said Laura.

“I want to keep myself as protected as I can until I get comfortable enough with more people being vaccinated,” said Randy.

Businesses are giving it some thought. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities might be among the first, given residents and workers are the most significantly vaccinated group at this point.

“There’s been a lot of conversation about that,” said Doug Farmer, President of the Colorado Health Care Association. “We’ve been anxiously awaiting some kind of new arrangement that will allow for a return to normal.”

Family members ask constantly about better visits with loved ones.

“The thing we hear is just that. ‘Not only do I want to see my loved one again. I want to hold their hand. I want to give them a hug. I don’t want to just come in and from six feet away while I’m wearing a mask they can’t see my face.’”

They cannot drop regulations until the federal government decides what’s appropriate, then the state.

“What I suspect is that the CDC will come out with guidance about once a care community reaches a certain level of vaccination, then they can remove some of the restrictions that they’ve had in place. Like communal dining, like group activities, like bringing in more visitors and allowing them to stay for longer periods of time when they do come to visit.”

Dropping masks may still be a while believes Farmer.

“I don’t even know at this point whether that’s something that we’d expect to see go away anytime in the near future.”

Other businesses might give thought to going “vaccine positive” or having vaccine positive times. That’s a lot harder than it sounds. Only a little more than a tenth of Colorado’s population is fully vaccinated so far.

“Not yet, I think it’s a little too early to go down that route,” said Cory Brightwell, CEO and co-founder of Chuze Fitness which has seven gyms in the Denver metro area. “Maybe you’re only a tennis club, or maybe you’re only a basketball court, maybe there’s more opportunity, but for fitness clubs that are more full service with lots of different amenities, it’s probably a little too early to act on anything here.”

There would also be difficulty in ascertaining who has been vaccinated.

“How do we go about ensuring those that say they are vaccinated truly are? That’s not something that you necessarily want to put on the business.”

In addition there are potentially legal questions about excluding people who may have religious or health exceptions to getting vaccinated. Brightwell sees greater progress toward herd immunity as a better solution.

“We can truly begin lifting restrictions such as distancing and masks in a way that doesn’t really put the onus on the business any longer. It’s really allowing customers to choose how they want to go about visiting their health club.”

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