Most Oklahomans will soon be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine. Beginning Tuesday, Oklahoma expanded the vaccination eligibility to teachers, students and school staff outside of preK-12, including childcare facilities. Staff and students of universities and vocational technology centers are included in that group. Thousands of essential workers will also become eligible.
Once someone is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, they can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks, according guidance released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fully vaccinated people can also gather indoors with people from one household who haven’t been vaccinated, as long as those people aren’t at a greater risk for a severe illness from COVID-19.
They also don’t need to stay away from others or get tested after they’ve been around someone with COVID-19, unless they develop symptoms or live in a group setting, according to the CDC.
A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after a single-shot vaccine like the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.
The CDC urges people to keep wearing masks and stay at a safe distance even after they’re vaccinated in certain situations, like when they’re in public, gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one household, or visiting with someone who could be at risk for a severe case of COVID (or someone lives with a person at increased risk).
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 165 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, marking the 11th consecutive day the state reported fewer than 1,000 new cases daily.
The state’s seven-day rolling average of new cases is 611, the lowest it has been since mid-July.