The Centers for Disease Control has new virus new guidelines for us. One is making some people laugh. The other is making most smile.

The first is the idea that two face masks are better than one. The CDC mask guidance relates to the addition of a mask made of cloth, worn along with a medical or surgical style mask. Lab experiments have shown that the combination results in up to 95% effectiveness in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Earlier in the week, lots of social media posts included images of people wearing a handful of masks and making fun of the idea as it began to get legs around the world.

The other new guideline is one more people are taking with seriousness.  The CDC guidelines are now indicating that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID and are able to demonstrate they meet specific criteria for that, will not be required to go into quarantine if they later are found to have been in close personal contact with someone who is known to have contracted the virus. The timing involved may be key., The CDC says that applies to people who had their last virus vaccine dose within the three previous months and are showing no obvious signs of the virus themselves.

The CDC guideline says, "Persons who do not meet all three of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.”

The new guidelines issued this week indicate that the risk of someone who has been vaccinated transmitting the virus to others is not certain. The CDC says the vaccines approved for use so far do help prevent what it calls symptomatic COVID-19.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

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