The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can meet in the same way – in a single household – with people considered to be at low risk for serious illnesses, as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance on Monday.
The guidance was designed to meet growing demand as more adults are being vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family, travel or do other things as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the world in the year past .
“With more and more people vaccinated every day, we are starting to turn a corner,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
VIDEO: watch the full CDC announcement
During a press conference on Monday, she called the guideline a “first step” to restore normalcy to the way people come together. She said that more activities would be allowed for vaccinated individuals once the number of cases and deaths decreased, more Americans were vaccinated and more science emerged about the ability of those who were vaccinated to obtain and spread the virus.
The CDC continues to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear tight-fitting masks, avoid large gatherings and physically distance themselves from others when they are in public. The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that may be related to COVID-19.
The CDC’s guidance does not refer to people who may have achieved some level of immunity because they are infected and recovering from the coronavirus.
Authorities say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last necessary dose of the vaccine. About 31 million Americans – or just about 9% of the U.S. population – have been fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the federal government so far, according to the CDC.
The authorized doses of vaccines started to be available in December and were products that required two doses with an interval of weeks. But since January, a small but growing number of Americans have been fully vaccinated and have asked questions such as: Do I still need to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?
The guidance was “good news for a nation that is understandably tired of the pandemic and is looking forward to resuming normal activities safely,” said Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC.
“I hope this new guideline will give the impetus for everyone to be vaccinated when they can and give states the patience to follow the public health roadmap needed to reopen their economies and communities safely,” said Besser in a statement.
But some said that the guidance is very cautious.
Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Nebraska, said the guidance is reasonable in many ways – with the exception of travel.
The CDC has not changed its travel recommendations, which discourages unnecessary travel and requires testing a few days before travel. This can seem confusing to vaccinated people who want to visit their family across the country or abroad.
“They need to relax the trip for vaccinees” and immediately publish electronic standards for documents that show whether a person is fully vaccinated, said Khan, who was previously a major disease detective at the CDC.
The new guidance also says nothing about going to restaurants or other places, although governors are lifting restrictions on business, said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University who was a former health commissioner. from Baltimore.
Wen said the CDC should have some sort of post-vaccination guidance ready in January, when some people started finishing their second doses. And she classified the guidance released on Monday as “too cautious”.
“The CDC is missing a great opportunity to link vaccination status to reopening guidance. By leaving with this limited guidance, they are missing the window to influence state and national policy,” said Wen, via email.
But some people who are fully vaccinated were satisfied with Monday’s news.
Ruth Michienzi was among those who received their second and last dose of vaccine at a pharmacy inside a Stop and Shop supermarket in Woburn, Massachusetts, on Monday morning.
The 91-year-old resident of neighboring Burlington said she had no problem having to wear a face mask in public and following other safety guidelines, even after she was fully vaccinated.
But Michienzi also said that she is excited to finally be able to remove the mask in front of her three great-grandchildren. She has seen them in person since she received her first injection about a month ago, but she kept the mask on.
“I hope you remember me,” she said.
“I have been doing all this for a year and I don’t want this year to be wasted,” said Michienzi of safety regulations. “I think it’s smart to wait.”
However, two customers, who were not in line to receive the vaccines, openly complained about the continued restrictions and expressed fears that stricter travel and socialization rules would follow, even if more people were vaccinated.
Grace McShane, 61, of Melrose, also received her second dose on Monday at the same supermarket.
She says she qualified for the vaccine because she is at high risk, including suffering a heart attack last year. The home caregiver said she was also fine with continued restrictions, even after being vaccinated.
“Even if you get vaccinated, prevention is better than cure. This is the new normal. This is part of life and you just have to adapt to it,” said McShane.
She said she is looking forward to hugging her three grandchildren without having to wear a mask. Her adult children were also vaccinated as essential workers, she said.
“Just hug and give them hugs,” said McShane. “This is all I want to do.”
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Associated Press reporters Phil Marcelo in Boston and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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