At our chat-room meeting on March 12, we discussed resuming face-to-face meetings. The officers have reviewed the guidance that the CDC recently issued for meetings like ours and conclude that we can safely resume our face-to-face meetings beginning with our next meeting on April 9, 2021. We further conclude, absent further information, that we can meet without social distancing or masks and may share refreshments as we have done in the past. Thus, we will meet at the President’s home in Broken Arrow on April 9. Social time starts at 7PM, with the official meeting starting at 7:30. Directions are here. Bring your favorite snack and something to read! We’ll have sodas.
The rest of this post is about the CDC guidance and our reasoning.
At our last chat-room meeting, almost all of our members indicated that they had been vaccinated. Further, based on discussion, we learned that it was at least possible all members would be vaccinated by the April 9 meeting. “Being vaccinated” means, per the CDC, that at least two weeks have elapsed since the second dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or the single dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. We’ll discuss two scenarios for our next meeting. In both scenarios, we note that no one should attend a meeting if they have symptoms of COVID infection.
Scenario One–Everyone attending has been vaccinated. In this case, the CDC guidance permits meeting without masks or social distancing and, for example, sharing a meal, again provided that all attendees are symptom-free. Thus, in this scenario, we can meet exactly as we have met in the past.
The CDC guidance discusses an exception for small meetings where everyone in a family group has been vaccinated except a single individual. If this individual is not at high risk and and is symptom free, the the guidance permits meeting as above. Even if everyone has not been vaccinated, we currently feel we can meet under this exception. If anyone disagrees, please let us know!
Scenario Two–One or more attendees haven’t completed vaccinations. In this case, social distancing and masks are recommended. We’d need to restrict access to the food buffet to one family group at a time, use masks except when reading or eating, and maintain social distancing.
The reason for the precautions in Scenario Two is protect the unvaccinated attendees. The guidance is clear that people who have been vaccinated are at minimal risk in both scenarios. It’s known that it’s possible for COVID to infect vaccinated individuals, although the infection will almost certainly be either mild or symptom-free. What’s not known is whether individuals so infected are contagious, i.e., can transmit their mild infection to others. Preliminary data are not conclusive but suggest they cannot. Since the data are not conclusive, the precautions in Scenario Two are for the unvaccinated attendees. If those attendees are from a household where everyone else is vaccinated and if they are symptom free, then the exception noted above to Scenario One applies. We do not expect to need Scenario Two at this time, given the particular circumstances of our group.
The bottom line is we can meet and, unless we learn something new, we can omit masks, social distancing, and other precautions.
Feel free to comment on these conclusions.