Protect Yourself and Your Communities During the Holidays

December 2021 – COVID-19 cases are surging across our communities and state, hospitalizations and deaths are rising, and our healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, including in our region. The best way to protect yourself, your communities, and your family this holiday season is to stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines, mask in indoor public spaces, test before gathering, wash your hands often and stay home if you are sick. To help keep our communities and businesses safe this holiday season, the Downeast COVID-19 Task Force has prepared a helpful safety guide.

Here are key ways that you as a community member can help reduce the spread of COVID-19, to keep yourselves, your loved ones, and your communities safe.

1. Be up to date on your vaccines. Make sure you’ve had your first full round: 2 shots for Moderna or Pfizer and 1 shot for Johnson & Johnson (J&J). If you get your first shot today, you’ll have some protection after about a week. The CDC recommends Moderna or Pfizer over J&J.
   Make sure you are boosted when it is time (6 months after your last Moderna or Pfizer shot, or 2 months after your J&J shot). Protection from being boosted starts after about a week. Boosters are now recommended for all people, aged 16 and over. Moderna or Pfizer are recommended for all, including those who received J&J for their first round.
   
2. Mask in indoor public spaces to protect yourself and those around you. Make sure that your mask has a good fit around the nose, chin, and cheeks. Medical-grade masks provide additional protection. Mask braces can also add better fit.
   
3. Check-in with the places you shop. If masks are not required, you can ask for curbside pickup, ask for certain times with masks required, and/or ask them to require masking at all times.
   
4. Choose thoughtfully when you gather. Being in crowded places increases your risk of catching COVID-19 and giving it to others.
   
5. Take a COVID-19 test if you are gathering outside your household. This gives you valuable information to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Healthy Acadia has a limited supply of tests available at no cost to those who need them: click on this form to receive one, or call the Healthy Acadia vaccine helpline at 207-271-6023 to pick up a test at one of our locations.
   
6. If you are sick or have symptoms, don’t host or attend a gathering. Stay home, get well, and keep others healthy.
   
7. Wash your hands often. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
   
8. Learn more at the CDC.

Here are key ways that you as a business can help reduce the spread of COVID-19, to keep yourselves, your employees, your customers, and your communities safe.

1. Encourage or require employees to be vaccinated.
2. Require universal masking at all times, including employees and customers.
3. Require universal masking at certain posted times, if masking at all times is not feasible.
4. Offer curbside pickup.
5. Ensure indoor spaces do not get crowded. allow for physical distancing among customers as well as employees.
6. Offer hand sanitizer in easily accessible places.
7. Ensure employees stay home if unwell.
8. Maximize ventilation with outside or HEPA filtered air.

Click here for a downloadable PDF of the holiday safety guide.