Because we held our breath, we can breathe again

We wondered when things would get back to normal. It turns out for the vaccinated, the answer is right now. The federal government has issued new guidelines about masks, saying for those who are fully inoculated from the coronavirus, they no longer need to wear a mask in most places, indoors or out. The CDC still suggests we wear masks in crowded places such as grocery stores, airplanes and hospitals. And stores and businesses are still free to set their own mask policies.  But even if we are around unvaccinated people, the vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask, or even socially distance. This is good news, the day we longed for. It is only possible because so many people followed the advice by taking precautions such as hand washing, mask wearing and social distancing throughout the pandemic, and getting the vaccines when they became available. The new guidelines provide much-needed  clarity on the issue of mask wearing for those who have gotten the vaccine. Of course, not everything is back to normal yet, but this is a big step. It took a long time to get here, a very long 14 months. But we should be proud we followed the advice and did the right thing to allow us to get to this point. We can now breathe deep and exhale, without that mask getting in the way.