Editing 2434: Vaccine Guidance

{{comic
| number    = 2434
| date      = March 8, 2021
| title     = Vaccine Guidance
| image     = vaccine_guidance.png
| titletext = I can't wait until I'm fully vaccinated and can safely send chat messages in all caps again.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

On the day this comic was published, the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}} (CDC) released [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html new guidelines] relating to COVID-19, lifting many of the existing restrictions for people who have been [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|fully vaccinated]] for two weeks. [[Megan]], speaking as a CDC spokesperson, is introducing these new guidelines in a video press conference. However, the other participants in the press conference quickly start asking about actions that have little or nothing to do with the vaccine, some of which would be dangerous whether COVID-19 was a risk or not, similarly to [[2238: Flu Shot]]. It's possible that they do not remember life before the pandemic very well, as in [[2391: Life Before the Pandemic]].

[[Blondie]] asks whether it would be okay to visit neighbors and drink milk directly from the carton. In most Western cultures, drinking directly from a container that could be shared with others (such as a milk carton) is considered unsafe, due to the risk of diseases being transmitted, and generally gross, as saliva and other biological material is passed that way. While these risks are arguably worse during the pandemic, it was unacceptable before the pandemic and will presumably be so afterward. 

[[Jill]] asks whether it would be okay to ride a bike down the stairs of a family member's house, which has a severe risk of injury.

[[White Hat]] follows up asking whether he can get a horse, and whether it would help for him and/or the horse to wear masks. This has basically no relation to anything else that was said. In response, Megan gives up trying to answer the increasingly irrelevant questions and ends the call.

In the title text, [[Randall]] mentions that when he is fully vaccinated, he will be able to write messages in {{w|ALL CAPS}}. This is generally used to indicate shouting, an activity which could spread COVID-19 and cause infection if done in person.

==Transcript==
:[Megan's face is seen at the bottom of the panel with the CDC-logo slightly above her and to the left; it is a black rectangle with the letters in white, and with a white jiggly line to the left of the first C.]
:Megan: Our new guidance: Fully vaccinated people can gather privately with no masks or distancing, and can visit with unvaccinated low-risk people in one household.
:Megan: Any questions?
:Logo: CDC

:[Blondie, Hairy and Megan are seen at the bottom of the panel in three separate rectangular panels with Blondie and Hairy's panels at the left above one another. Those panels are almost square and also smaller than Megan's, more rectangular panel to the right of theirs. This panel is centered at the middle of those two panels to the left, and the logo is still visible. It is also shown that Megan is standing behind a lectern. Blondie, above Hairy, is the one asking questions to Megan.]
:Blondie: If my neighbors and I are all vaccinated, can I visit them unmasked and drink milk straight from the jug in their fridge?
:Megan: I...You can visit, yes.
:Blondie: And the jug thing?
:Megan: ...Next question?
:Logo: CDC

:[In a frame-less panel there are two panels at the bottom, with Jill in the largest to the left and Megan in the smaller to the right, with the logo still visible, but unreadable still the lectern is shown.]
:Jill: I'm fully vaccinated. Can I ride my bike in my sister-in-law's house?
:Megan: In her ''house?''
: Jill: Like, down the stairs.
:Megan: I guess? You should at '''''least''''' wear a helmet.
: Jill: Even if she's not high-risk?
:Megan: Any ''other'' questions?

:[White Hat is in a rectangular box at the bottom of the panel. Megan is replying from off-panel to the right from a star burst at the edge of the panel. At the bottom there is a black rectangle with white text.]
:White Hat: I'm two weeks past my second dose.
:White Hat: Can I get a horse?
:Megan: Thank you all for coming.
:White Hat: What if I wear a mask?
:White Hat: What if the horse does?
:Message: Meeting ended by host.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]