• In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss Considerations for the gradual, safe drawdown of COVID protections. Read more below.
• Alaska is the first state to make COVID-19 vaccines available to nearly everyone.
• A recent study and analysis has found that, globally, we are nowhere close to having herd immunity.
• Yesterday, March 11, 2021, marked the one-year anniversary of the official WHO declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Starting April 1^st, quarantine for domestic travel to New York will no longer be required. Mandatory quarantine will remain for international travelers. The Department of Health still recommends quarantine as an added precaution and all travelers must complete the Traveler Health Form.
• FDA has approved one drug and authorized others for emergency use against COVID-19 giving patients more treatment options.
• Although President Biden has announced that all American adults would be eligible for the vaccine by May 1, a new survey indicates that 30% of Americans — and higher rates for some subgroups — are not yet willing to take it.
• We will be updating the Vaccine Chart this upcoming Monday! Stay tuned!

Considerations for Gradual, Safe Draw Down of COVID Protections

With COVID-19 vaccines becoming more available and President Biden directing states to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1, we can anticipate that COVID-19 transmission will decrease, and it may be possible to relax protections sooner than previously expected. So, what do businesses need to consider?

The primary consideration TAG would recommend is that a gradual, strategic approach be taken to relaxing protections in your workplace. One set of factors that should be considered is the percentage of your workforce that has been vaccinated and the COVID case rate of the area(s) in which you operate. Shifting rapidly from the widespread protections that have been implemented to no protections such as masks, distancing, etc., not only could lead to a re-escalation of transmission, but is likely to cause unease, or even distress, among workers, particularly those with other health concerns. Just as it took a gradual adjustment to implementing and accepting the protections of COVID, so, too, will it take a gradual, deliberate adjustment to feeling comfortable without them.

As such, there is a lot to consider when recalibrating protections, and TAG is dedicated to assisting in those efforts. As such, beginning next week, we will be providing more considerations and recommendations on safe, progressive ways to back down controls.

• In Friday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed TAG’s Weekly Matrix, the status of COVID-19 Cases, and what that means. [Read more link]
• Do you want to know when different sectors of the food and agriculture world can be vaccinated? Food manufacturing versus food service versus food retail (grocery)? We have put together a spreadsheet for every state, divided by food-worker type that will be updated weekly. Find the latest update (from Monday March 08, 2021) here.
• Are you eligible to receive a vaccine, but can’t get an appointment? There is a new service, called Dr. B that allows individuals to be put on a standby list for leftover COVID-19 vaccines. Sign up here.
• Disneyland in California will reopen in late April in a limited capacity.
• China has launched a new version of a COVID-19 “health certificate” that is accessed through WeChat for international travelers, a digital vaccine passport. This health certificate (either paper or digital version) will track a citizens’ medical history when traveling abroad or coming in. The US and EU are also planning similar things.
• As we briefly discussed fake vaccines being shipped from China to South Africa, on Monday, VICE now reports that the EU is experiencing its own influx of fake vaccines with up to “a billion fake COVID-19 vaccines have[ing] been offered to EU countries”. Authorities are worried that stalled vaccination efforts throughout the EU will only further exacerbate the situation.
• In Monday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss the availability & prioritization of vaccine groups. Read More.
• CDC has released new guidance with is first set of public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people. CDC's intent is to continue to update the guidance based on COVID spread, proportion of fully vaccinated persons, and evolving vaccine information.
• The D.C. links restaurant dining and a lack of mask mandates to the virus’s spread in the U.S.
• 'Tip of the Iceberg': Interpol Says Fake COVID-19 Vaccines Were Smuggled Across Continents from China to South Africa. With over 2,400 illegal and fake doses shipped, this “the first confirmed instance of fake vaccines being smuggled across continents”. The “the vials were found among a large batch of counterfeit N95 masks, and that two individuals were arrested in connection with the haul: one was a Chinese national, the other a citizen of Zambia.”