This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made some significant changes to its Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People.

According to the CDC, people are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 more than two weeks after they have received the second dose in a two-dose series (like Pfizer or Moderna), or more than two weeks after they receive a single dose (like Johnson & Johnson/Janssen).

They have also recommended fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic.

Please know these recommendations do not apply to healthcare settings, including Mercy Iowa City hospital and Mercy clinics. All individuals, including colleagues and patients, should continue to wear a mask and socially distance.

Future communication will follow if these recommendations change. The CDC also recommends you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. Please review the flyer below for more information.

Mercy Iowa City remains committed to stop the spread of COVID-19 and we appreciate your commitment to keeping our patients and community safe.

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About Mercy Iowa City

Mercy Iowa City is an acute care hospital and regional referral center for southeast Iowa. Mercy has received: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) 5 Star Rating as a Top 2% of all hospitals for the 4th consecutive year, the only hospital in Iowa to do so; the Fortune IBM/Watson Health 100 Top Hospital ranking; the Fortune IBM/Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital ranking; the accredited Chest Pain Center with the American Heart Association Gold Plus Achievement Award for Stroke Care; the Top 100 Community Hospitals Award in 2018 and 2019 from Becker’s Review; the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for Mercy’s Emergency Care Unit by achieving 95 percent for patient experience for 13 consecutive years; and the Center of Distinction Award from Healogics for Mercy’s Wound and Vein Center. Mercy has 194 acute care beds, 25 private rooms for outpatient surgery, a 26-bed nursery with Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 28 primary and specialty care clinics, a medical staff of 250 physicians representing all major medical specialties and most subspecialties, and 1,350 employees. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1873 and became an affiliate of MercyOne in 2017. To learn more visit www.mercyiowacity.org.