The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued guidelines for fully vaccinated people, outlining what they can do safely – including visiting closed and unmasked places with other vaccinated people. CDC director Rochelle Walensky announced the highly anticipated guidance during a meeting of the White House COVID-19 on Monday.
Fully vaccinated people, according to the CDC, can do the following:
- Visit with other people totally vaccinated inside the house, without wearing masks or physical distance;
- Visits with unvaccinated people from a single residence who are at low risk of serious COVID-19 disease indoors, without the use of masks or physical distance; and
- Ignore the quarantine and test guidelines after known exposure, if they are asymptomatic.
The CDC further says that vaccinees should use facial coverage in public and still discourages non-essential travel. He also says that, for the time being, vaccinees should continue to avoid medium and large-sized clusters. The CDC also also recommends testing if you have symptoms of COVID-19.
More guidance will come as more people continue to be vaccinated.
People are “fully vaccinated,” according to the CDC, if two weeks have passed since they received a second injection from Pfizer or Moderna, or the only injection from Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson the vaccine is administered in a single injection. This vaccine received an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on February 27, and doses were being distributed and administered as of last week.
The guidance comes at a time when the country is at a crossroads in the fight against the virus. Last month, the average number of daily cases across the country fell by more than 50%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, but progress has stalled.
States across the country, including New York, Massachusetts and Arkansas, have eased COVID-related restrictions on companies, raising fears that the United States may be letting its guard down too soon. Last week, Texas became the third state to terminate its state mask mandate in recent days, joining Montana and Iowa.