We are back!

After over one year "pause" due to Covid restrictions, we are back!

We had the first live support group meetings in Tellico Village and Oak Ridge. This week will we meet first time with our Maryville group. West Knoxville and Farragut will also start to meet in June. We have a fantastic program planned for the remaining of 2021.

New FREE movement classes will start soon. We teamed up with Dancer's Studio in Knoxville and will offer "Dance for Parkinson's" classes. Pilates for PD is already going on. Ballroom dance will also start in the next couple of weeks. Let's get busy!

We encourage every participant to be vaccinated. In general, your age alone increases your risk of complications from COVID-19 infection. Depending on what PD symptoms you have, PD can also increase the risk of complications from the virus. For these reasons, it would be wise to protect yourself as much as possible from COVID-19, which would include getting vaccinated. As always, speak to your doctor about your individual clinical situation and to find out when and where you will be able to get the vaccine.

Here the CDC guidelines:

If you’ve been fully vaccinated:

• You can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic.

• You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.

For now, if you’ve been fully vaccinated:

• You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace and local businesses.

• If you travel, you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested within 3 days of their flight (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months) and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.

• You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.

• People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken the immune system, should talk to their healthcare provider to discuss their activities. They may need to keep taking all precautions to prevent COVID-19.