Good morning,

As the number of vaccinated Americans increases, we’re seeing a welcomed relaxation of many COVID restrictions.

The Centers for Disease Control updated its guidance this week to allow fully-vaccinated people to gather indoors without wearing a mask.

You are fully vaccinated:

• Two weeks after your second dose in a two-dose series (Pfizer or Moderna) or;
• Two weeks after the Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.

The new guidelines add that you can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household — for example, relatives who all live together — without masks, unless someone in that household has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

While this is exciting news, multiple variants of COVID continue to circulate, and many of our friends and neighbors remain unvaccinated. It’s important that we all continue to cover our nose and mouth with a mask and practice social distancing when in public spaces.

Travel
The CDC continues to recommend that Americans avoid medium or large-sized gatherings and delay any travel. If you must travel, please follow CDC requirements and recommendations.

Governor Mills has expanded the exemptions to the State’s travel quarantine rules:

• If you are fully vaccinated, you are exempt from quarantining when returning from any US state.
• If you visit or return to Maine from any of the New England states, you no longer must quarantine upon return.

Note: Unvaccinated people traveling back to Maine from a state outside of New England are still required to quarantine for 10 days upon your return.

Vaccine
InterMed continues to work through our list of patients eligible for the vaccine, currently those 60 years and older. The allocation of vaccine is limited, but we are working through our list as quickly as possible and ask for your continued patience. If you have received a vaccine elsewhere, please let your physician know so that we may update your records.

After a year of battling COVID-19, we’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s too soon to ease all restrictions. Please continue to follow CDC guidance of masking and practicing social distancing in public.

To learn more, visit the CDC’s webpage, When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated: How to Protect Yourself and Others or the COVID FAQ page of our internet.

Please stay safe and well,

 

Dan Loiselle, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and the entire InterMed Care Team