People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to observe a 14-day quarantine if they have been exposed to someone infected with coronavirus, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency updated the guidance on your website this week. The CDC says that vaccinated people do not need quarantine if they do not have the symptoms of COVID-19 and if contact with an infected person occurs at least two weeks after receiving the second double vaccination and within three months of that second dose. Keep reading – and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these sure signs that you’ve had Coronavirus.
Vaccinated people must still mask
The recommendation is similar to what the CDC advised people who have achieved natural immunity from a previous COVID infection.
“Fully vaccinated people who do not quarantine should still experience the symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days after exposure,” said the agency. “If they have symptoms, they should be evaluated clinically for COVID-19, including the SARS-CoV-2 test, if indicated.”
The CDC also advised that vaccinated people follow public health guidelines to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including wearing a face mask, social distance and avoiding crowds.
The reasoning: experts are still unsure whether the vaccine prevents people from becoming infected with COVID-19 and therefore being able to pass it on to others. (They know that it prevents serious illness from the disease.) The agency said there is “limited information” about whether vaccines reduce transmission and how long their protection lasts.
“Although the risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 from vaccinated people to others is still uncertain, vaccination has been shown to prevent symptomatic COVID-19; symptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission is believed to have a greater role in transmission than purely asymptomatic transmission, “said the CDC.
On February 11, the CDC report indicates that just over 11.1 million Americans received both vaccines from the currently approved COVID vaccine, while 34.7 million people received one or more doses. Overall, COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the country, but experts are nervously monitoring various variants of the disease, which may be less responsive to vaccines.
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How to survive this pandemic
As for you, do everything you can to avoid getting – and spreading – COVID-19 in the first place: Wear a face mask, get tested if you think you have coronavirus, avoid crowds (and bars and parties at home), practice social detachment, perform only essential tasks, wash your hands regularly, disinfect surfaces that are touched frequently and overcome this pandemic in the healthiest way, don’t miss these 35 places you’re most likely to reach COVID.