Monday, May 31, 2021

Vaccinated Americans are celebrating the 1st big holiday safely without masks. But for some, returning to normal is not so easy

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

Vaccinated Americans are celebrating the 1st big holiday safely without masks. But for some, returning to normal is not so easy

By Holly Yan and Madeline Holcombe, CNN

Updated 8:08 PM ET, Mon May 31, 2021

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(CNN)For the first time in over a year, millions of Americans are gathering for a major holiday without masks or physical distancing -- safely.

But the majority of Americans still aren't fully vaccinated, leading to the possibility of yet another post-holiday spike of coronavirus infections.

"To people who are traveling and people who have been fully vaccinated, have a great time," said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University.

"But for folks who have not been vaccinated, you can still get this virus and you can still die. We still have about 500 deaths per day."

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While most deaths have been among the elderly and those with preexisting conditions, Covid-19 has killed more children than the flu has this past year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Other young, unvaccinated people are suffering from long Covid or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) -- a rare but potentially serious condition that can happen in children weeks after a coronavirus infection.

So while fully vaccinated Americans relish holiday barbeques and close gatherings without masks, others are styimied -- or having a hard time adjusting to normalcy.

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"Covid has really changed our lives," clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere said.

"Whether it's someone they know that has Covid or someone that they know that died, or friends who talked about it or just seeing it in the media, all of those things caused everyone some sort of trauma," he said.

"We had gotten ourselves into a very safe bubble." But now, he said, some people "are having anxiety."

But vacationers like KerryAnn McGregor said the renewed freedom is welcome.

"It's a whole year of staying indoors, and now you come outside everybody is out riding their bikes, jogging, exercising, partying," said McGregor, who was visiting Miami Beach this weekend. "It's OK now."

Another air travel record is expected to break

At US aiports, Monday was poised to be the busiest day of the entire pandemic -- capping a record weekend of holiday travel as more than 40% of Americans have been fully vaccinated.

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 7 million people from Thursday to Sunday. On Friday, the TSA screened 1.96 million people.

And travel industry experts say this will likely be busy summer. On Monday, United Airlines said bookings for this June through August are more than double the numbers from last year.