Back Together Again

Magnificent food at Tuesday Papillon March 9, 2021 T: 582-7800 www.arubatoday.com facebook.com/arubatoday instagram.com/arubatoday Page 9 Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper Fully vaccinated people can gather without BACK masks, CDC says TOGETHER By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer AGAIN NEW YORK (AP) — Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials. The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for se- vere disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grand- Medical Assistant Keona Shepard holds up the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as she prepares to administer it at the New parents visiting healthy chil- Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the mass coronavirus vaccination in New Orleans, in this Thursday, March 4, dren and grandchildren. 2021, file photo. Continued on Page 2 Associated Press A2 TUESDAY 9 MARCH 2021 UP FRONT Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says Continued from Front news. Ruth Michienzi was among The Centers for Disease those receiving her second Control and Prevention and final vaccine dose at announced the guidance a pharmacy inside a Stop Monday. and Shop supermarket in The guidance is designed Woburn, Massachusetts on to address a growing de- Monday morning. mand, as more adults have The 91-year-old resident been getting vaccinated of nearby Burlington said and wondering if it gives she’s fine with having to still them greater freedom to wear a facemask in pub- visit family members, travel, lic and follow other safety or do other things like they guidelines even after being did before the COVID-19 fully vaccinated. pandemic swept the world But Michienzi also said she’s last year. excited to finally be able to “With more and more peo- take off her mask in front ple vaccinated each day, of her three great grand- we are starting to turn a children. She’s seen them corner,” said CDC Director in person since receiving Dr. Rochelle Walensky. her first shot about a month During a press briefing ago, but has kept her mask Monday, she called the President Joe Biden, standing left, visits a COVID-19 vaccination site and watches as Dr. Navjit on. “I hope they remember guidance a “first step” to- Goraya gives a vaccine to Air Force Col. Margaret Cope, as from left, Pharmacist Deepika me,” she said. Duggineni, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients and Secretary of Veterans ward restoring normalcy in Affairs Denis McDonough, right, look on at the VA Medical Center in Washington, Monday, March A pair of customers, who how people come togeth- 8, 2021. weren’t in line to receive er. She said more activities Associated Press shots, though, openly would be ok’d for vac- groused about the contin- cinated individuals once have been fully vaccinat- and gives states the pa- The new guidance also says ued restrictions and voiced caseloads and deaths de- ed with a federally autho- tience to follow the public nothing about going to res- fears that stricter mandates cline, more Americans are rized COVID-19 vaccine so health roadmap needed taurants or other places, on travel and socializing vaccinated, and as more far, according to the CDC. to reopen their economies even though governors are would follow, even as more science emerges on the Authorized vaccine doses and communities safely,” lifting restrictions on busi- are vaccinated. ability of those who have first became available in said Besser, in a statement. nesses, said Dr. Leana Wen, Grace McShane, 61, of been vaccinated to get December, and they were But some said the guid- an emergency physician Melrose, also received her and spread the virus. products that required ance is too cautious. and public health profes- second dose Monday at The CDC is continuing to two doses spaced weeks Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the sor at George Washington the same supermarket. recommend that fully vac- apart. But since January, a University of Nebraska Col- University who formerly was She says she qualified for cinated people still wear small but growing number lege of Public Health, said Baltimore’s health commis- the vaccine because she’s well-fitted masks, avoid of Americans have been the guidance is reasonable sioner. high risk, including suffering large gatherings, and phys- fully vaccinated, and have in many respects — with Wen has said the CDC a heart attack last year. ically distance themselves been asking questions like: the exception of travel. should have had some The in-home caregiver said from others when out in Do I still have to wear a The CDC did not change its kind of post-vaccination she too was fine with the public. The CDC also ad- mask? Can I go to a bar recommendations on trav- guidance ready in Janu- continued restrictions even vised vaccinated people now? Can I finally see my el, which discourages un- ary, when some people first after being vaccinated. to get tested if they devel- grandchildren? necessary travel and calls began to finish their second “Even if you’re vaccinated, op symptoms that could be The guidance was “wel- for getting tested within a doses. And she called the it’s better to be safe than related to COVID-19. come news to a nation few days of the trip. That guidance that came out sorry. This is the new normal. The CDC guidance did not that is understandably tired could seem confusing to Monday “far too cautious.” This is part of life and you speak to people who may of the pandemic and longs vaccinated people hop- “The CDC is missing a major just have to adapt to it,” have gained some level of to safely resume normal ing to visit family across the opportunity to tie vaccina- McShane said. immunity from being infect- activities,” said Dr. Richard country or abroad. tion status with reopening She said she’s looking for- ed, and recovering from, Besser, president and CEO “They need to relax trav- guidance. By coming out ward to hugging her three the coronavirus. of the Robert Wood John- el for those vaccinated” with such limited guidance, grandchildren without hav- Officials say a person is son Foundation and a for- and to immediately pub- they are missing the win- ing to wear a mask. Her considered fully vaccinat- mer acting director of the lish electronic standards dow to influence state and grown children have also ed two weeks after receiv- CDC. for documents that show national policy,” Wen said, been vaccinated as essen- ing the last required dose of “I hope that this new guid- whether a person is fully in an email. tial workers, she said. vaccine. About 31 million ance provides the momen- vaccinated, said Khan, But some people who “Just cuddle and give Americans — or only about tum for everyone to get who formerly was a leading are fully vaccinated were them hugs,” McShane said. 9% of the U.S. population — vaccinated when they can CDC disease detective. pleased by Monday’s “That’s all I want to do.”q A3 U.S. NEWS TUESDAY 9 MARCH 2021 U.S. offers residency to Venezuelans and will review sanctions By BEN FOX actually could start sitting Associated Press down with the international WASHINGTON (AP) — The community to see how we Biden administration said can actually exert coor- Monday it is offering tem- dinated pressure and set porary legal residency to clear expectations for the several hundred thousand way forward.” Venezuelans who fled their Any easing of sanctions country’s economic col- would likely face opposi- lapse and will review U.S. tion in Congress, but the sanctions intended to iso- granting of temporary pro- late the South American tected status for Venezue- nation. lans has bipartisan support. Both measures mark a shift Republicans in recent days from U.S. policy toward had urged the Biden ad- Venezuela under President ministration to formalize Donald Trump. Trump’s last-minute execu- President Joe Biden’s ad- tive order that deferred ministration announced deportation for 18 months it would grant temporary for more than 145,000 Ven- protected status to Ven- ezuelans who were at risk ezuelans already in the of being sent back to their United States, allowing an homeland. Temporary pro- estimated 320,000 people Security forces take part in a military drill to mark the eighth death anniversary of President Hugo tected status is a more for- to apply to legally live and Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, late Friday, March 5, 2021. mal status that cannot be Associated Press work in the country for 18 as easily reversed. months. “By using the law to lift the Trump resisted repeated and other countries believe Obama, have increased The Biden official said the threat of deportation and calls from Republican and was fraudulent and illegiti- economic pressure on the Maduro government has grant employment autho- Democratic lawmakers, pri- mate. once prosperous country. “adapted” to the most rization, the Biden admin- marily from South Florida, to A senior Biden administra- Its economy was already punishing of the sanctions, istration helps hundreds of grant temporary protect- tion official portrayed that suffering from mismanage- against transactions with thousands of families stay ed status to Venezuelans as a failed strategy. ment and the deterioration Venezuela’s state-owned safe and earn a living with- though he issued an order “The United States is in no of its all-important oil indus- oil company, Petroleos de out fear of being returned deferring deportation for a rush to lift sanctions,” the try.

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