May 14, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Avera health.

It’s the season of fun! Even though we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, there are still plenty of things you can do safely as a family and as a workplace team.

Vaccines are available in ample supply. For anyone 12 and older, there are no longer criteria and no waiting lists. So that’s one clear way to protect yourself and others.

Last year at this time, a large number of people were working from home and virtually all events were canceled. This season promises to be different.

“Some of the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are changing, but it’s still important to protect yourself and others,” said Dr. Chad Thury, an Avera Medical Group family practitioner.

Changing CDC guidelines

Guidelines have eased for people who are fully vaccinated. The CDC has relaxed guidelines and now says fully vaccinated people can resume activities they did before the pandemic.

For example, it’s OK to conduct activities outdoors without masks. You might want to use caution if you’re in a crowded place. Groups of vaccinated people can gather indoors without masks if everyone is comfortable doing so.

“Outdoor events are safer than large indoor gatherings. Keeping events small – like two families gathering instead of five or six – helps reduce the risk,” Thury said.

Plan for a place where there’s room to spread out. Boxed dinners or bag lunches are safer than sharing food.

When to be cautious

When should you be more cautious and take extra measures like wearing a mask?

• Indoor public settings.
• Gathering indoors with people outside your household who are unvaccinated.
• Visiting indoors with someone who’s at high risk for COVID and is unvaccinated.
• Taking public transportation like a plane, bus or train.

It’s still important to observe workplace rules and policies set by businesses or retailers.

Considering past examples

Vaccination has a strong history of making a major impact in the case of epidemics and pandemics. Measles is a good example. Widespread immunity to it remains in place, mostly because so many are vaccinated.

“We still have measles cases pop up each year, generally in communities with lower immunization rates,” Thury said. “For the risk of COVID-19 to be equally low, we need increased vaccination rates to get to herd immunity.”

“As we look at the numbers and how they’re trending, we’re seeing COVID cases and hospitalizations decrease, and that’s a good thing. We want to see numbers continue to go down instead of up. So we ask everyone to please consider getting vaccinated and using precautions so we can finish strong,” Thury said.