Prevention
Fully vaccinated? Congratulations! You have taken an important step to protect yourself – and others – from COVID-19.
Reminder: you are considered “fully vaccinated” after two weeks since your second dose in a series of two doses (such as the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines), or two weeks since you received a single dose vaccine (such as the vaccine Johnson & Johnson), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Once you reach that point, your body has had enough time to build enough infection-fighting antibodies to ensure a robust immune response if you come into contact with the new coronavirus.
But before thinking about hosting a party, remember that COVID-19 is still spreading and most Americans have not yet been vaccinated. This means that it is important to continue to take precautions, especially in public.
Do you want to know what you can do (and what you should still avoid) now that you have been vaccinated? Here’s everything you need to know.
You do not need to wear a mask around other people who are fully vaccinated.
This is true whether you are indoors or outdoors, according to the CDC. This can be difficult to understand after a year of wearing a mask, but experts say there is no problem. “If you’re fully vaccinated, we think you’re so well protected that you don’t need masks,” says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Just to recap, research shows that every vaccine authorized in the United States (from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) is extremely effective where it matters most: they all prevent critical forms of COVID-19 that can result in hospitalization or death.
Vaccines “are not perfect, but they are highly effective in preventing symptomatic diseases,” says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University of Buffalo. As a result, if you are around other people who are fully vaccinated, the risk is incredibly low that any of you will get sick of each other, he notes.
You don’t need to wear a mask around small groups of unvaccinated, low-risk people, but you Does still need to use one in public.
According to the CDC, you can meet indoors – without a mask – with unvaccinated people from 1 another household (such as visiting relatives who all live in the same house). But there is an important caveat: it is important to ensure that none of the unvaccinated people are at high risk of becoming seriously ill due to COVID-19 and who do not live with people at high risk, such as an elderly adult or a person with a latent health problem.
“When you are fully vaccinated, there is very little risk of spreading this virus,” said infectious disease specialist Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety. virus after vaccination is not confirmed to be zero, you should only be unmasked around low-risk people until public health experts have enough data to say otherwise, he notes.
That is why the CDC recommends that you continue to wear a mask in public settings (since you cannot be sure whether each person is at high or low risk) when meeting with unvaccinated people from more than one family. , and when you are visiting an unvaccinated, high-risk person. You should also avoid large meetings.
“Part of this has to do with the vaccines not being perfect,” says Dr. Schaffner. “When you are in public, there is still a small chance that you will be infected,” especially as new highly contagious variants continue to spread.
Remember, “It’s not just about you – it’s about the people around you,” says Henry Raymond, Ph.D., associate professor and epidemiologist at the Rutgers School of Public Health in New Jersey. “Even if you are fully vaccinated, there is still a small chance of passing the virus on to others.”
You do not need to automatically quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.
In most cases, if you have been fully vaccinated, the CDC says that you do not need to stay away from other people or get tested if you have been around someone with COVID-19. There are caveats, however. If you live in a crowded environment, such as a collective home, the CDC recommends staying away from other people for 14 days if you have been exposed to the coronavirus.
“At best, these vaccines are 95% effective – this is not 100%,” says Dr. Schaffner. “It is possible, although unlikely, that you could be exposed to COVID and develop the disease.” If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, you should still quarantine and test for viruses, even if you are vaccinated.
There is probably no problem with traveling, if necessary.
The CDC currently recommends that fully vaccinated people “delay national and international travel”, but many infectious disease experts believe that these guidelines are very strict. “The CDC is being cautious,” says Dr. Adalja. “It is more cautious than I would recommend. I think if you are fully vaccinated, you can go ahead and travel ”, as long as you continue to follow the guidelines listed above.
Dr. Russo agrees. “If you are fully vaccinated, traveling poses a risk – but that risk is very low,” he says. His biggest concern is the possibility of getting a variant of the coronavirus, such as P.1 (which first appeared in Brazil) or B.1.351 (which first appeared in South Africa), since there is less data on the effectiveness of vaccines against these variants. Still, he says, “it looks like you could at least make domestic travel safely.”
Dr. Adalja says he “fully expects” that travel guidelines will change for people who are fully vaccinated over time, especially as more people in general are vaccinated.
Overall, you can do a lot after you are fully vaccinated. In a way, observes Dr. Adalja, “you are recovering your life”.
This article is correct at the time of publication. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves rapidly and the scientific community’s understanding of the new coronavirus develops, some of the information may have changed since the last update. While our goal is to keep all of our stories up to date, visit the online resources provided by CDC, WHOit’s yours local department of public health to stay informed about the latest news. Always speak to your doctor for professional medical advice.
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