With the arrival of various COVID vaccines, of course, couples are starting to wonder if normal weddings will be able to resume any time soon. So we’ve composed a list of all the ways the vaccine news will affect the wedding industry and what it means for 2021 weddings.
April 19, 2021: Every U.S. Adult Is Eligible for the Vaccine
Biden announced that every person aged 16 or older can register to receive the vaccine. According to statistics, half of all American adults received at least one dose as of the 18th April.
April 13, 2021: CDC suggests pausing the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
Due to a small number of blood clot cases, the CDC recommended pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution.
March 8, 2021: Fully Vaccinated people can gather indoors
This announcement gives some clarity surrounding the future of 2021 weddings. Fully vaccinated people will be allowed to meet indoors with other full vaccinated people without the need for masks or social distancing. This means that fully vaccinated wedding guests will be able to gather without masks or social distancing. They can gather in small numbers with un-vaccinated people if they are low risk.
March 2 2021, Biden Announces that every adult in America will be vaccinated by the end of May
As a third vaccine has been approved, Biden announced that the vaccine timeline has been pushed forward to the end of May, when it was previously July.
February 27 2021, The FDA approves the Johnson and Johnson Vaccine
The FDA authorised the use of this single-shot vaccine, with Biden stating that it was highly effective.
December 18, 2020: Moderna Vaccine is authorised by the FDA
The FDA approved the use of this double-dose vaccine
December 11, 2020: Pfizer Vaccine approved by the FDA
This was the first vaccine to be authorised by the FDA.
What This Vaccine Rollout Means For Weddings
At the moment, we know that vaccinated wedding guests can attend weddings without masks and social distancing with other guests who are vaccinated. Vaccinated guests can also participate in outdoor events without a mask, with the exception of crowded venues. We also know that vaccinated individuals can meet in small groups with unvaccinated people who are from the same household and who are low risk, in this case they don’t need to wear a mask or practice social distancing. Furthermore, vaccinated people will not need to quarantine or test for Covid following exposure if they don’t experience symptoms.
What we don’t know
From April 27, the CDC still suggests that even if vaccinated, people should avoid large indoor gatherings. While this suggests weddings are a part of this category, no gathering size numbers were specified.
How the vaccine will affect 2021 weddings
According to experts, couples will need to consider the number of guests they have, and what the situation with the weather is like. If you wish to have as normal of a wedding as possible, some experts do suggest postponing your event to Autumn 2021 to be safe, as this is when many people will have been vaccinated.
Getting vaccinated before your wedding
For those concerned about the safety of the vaccine, experts assure that a vaccine will never be approved if it wasn’t safe- this is the purpose of the FDA. The safety of vaccines is continuously evaluated as they are released.