What you can do if you’re fully vaccinated | Coronavirus Newsletter

TL;DR: Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rite Aid is a top distributor of Philadelphia’s COVID-19 vaccine doses — and it’s been giving them overwhelmingly to white people.

— Kelly O’Shea (@kelloshea, health@inquirer.com)

👩‍⚕️ Hundreds of thousands of suburban patients who receive treatment for high-risk conditions like cancer at Philadelphia hospitals are unable to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from their doctors, simply because they don’t live in the city.

🏫 For the first time in a year, some Philly schools reopened Monday. Only 3% of the district’s 120,000 students returned for in-person learning but officials said the reopening represented a major step forward.

📞 Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary said on call Sunday that the supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to Philadelphia’s collar counties had not been under-allocated, but lawmakers remain frustrated.

💉 Some New Jerseyans who have appointments to get Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are calling and asking if they can receive Johnson & Johnson shots instead, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. The health department is urging residents to keep their appointments.

🙅‍♂️ The city health department failed to properly vet Philly Fighting COVID and “ignored numerous read flags,” according to initial results from an ongoing investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.

🧬 RNA worked for COVID-19 vaccines. Now researchers at CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania hope it could be used to treat cancer and rare childhood diseases.

📰 What’s going on in your county or neighborhood? We organized recent coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by local counties and Philly neighborhoods mentioned in the stories to make it easier for you to find the info you care about.

📈The coronavirus has swept across the Philadelphia region and cases continue to mount. The Inquirer and Spotlight PA are compiling geographic data on tests conducted, cases confirmed, and deaths caused by the virus. Track the spread here.

Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The recommendations also say it’s safe for fully vaccinated people to gather with unvaccinated people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren. Additionally, fully vaccinated people no longer have to quarantine or get tested if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19, unless they show symptoms for the virus. But the CDC does recommend fully vaccinated people continue to avoid medium- or large-sized gatherings. Read more here on the new guidelines.

Rite Aid is a top distributor of Philadelphia’s COVID-19 vaccine doses — and it’s been giving them overwhelmingly to white people. The pharmacy chain is the second-largest provider of vaccines allocated to Philadelphia, a racially diverse city where non-Hispanic whites make up just one-third of residents and where communities of color have disproportionately suffered the pandemic’s devastating impacts. But for every vaccine dose Rite Aid gave a Black person, it gave 21 doses to white ones, according to new city data. A spokesperson for Rite Aid said it’s working to improve equity.

Red Cross blood drives plummeted because of COVID-19. Dawn Zucca and her 18-year-old son Peter came to the rescue. Last year, they were responsible for 44 drives, collecting nearly 4,000 units. It was one of the largest single efforts in the Red Cross region and accounted for 11% of blood collected during drives in Montgomery County in 2020. The Harleysville duo see their efforts as a way of giving back. As a young child battling cancer, Peter received 51 units of blood before he turned 2.

💰 If you’re a business owner, you’ll want to read this guide to Pennsylvania’s next wave of COVID-19 relief grants.

🐟 The Friday Lent fish fry lives on at Philly churches and restaurants. Here’s where to get yourself a platter.

🎒 A Philly school psychologist shares tips for parents to help kids transition back to in-person learning.

Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.

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