People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have no symptoms do not need to be quarantined if they are exposed to someone with the disease, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidelines released today. They must still follow other public health guidelines, such as wearing a mask.
Someone is considered fully vaccinated if it has been more than two weeks since they received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose vaccine.
With regard to the sales pitch for the vaccination, “you will no longer have to be quarantined after exposure to COVID” can be very strong https://t.co/RODB8pyNL5
– Ed MD (@notdred) February 10, 2021
Even the best vaccines are not perfect protection against COVID-19. The Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines, the two authorized in the United States so far, are about 95% effective in protecting against symptomatic diseases. This means that there may be a small number of vaccinated people who may still be sick. The CDC says that people who do not quarantine should pay attention to symptoms and get tested, if any.
Researchers still don’t know how long vaccine protection lasts. So for now, the CDC says that people should only skip quarantine for three months after the last dose. This is the amount of time that pharmaceutical companies have tracked people enrolled in their clinical trials. This can change as companies have more time to collect and analyze data.
The guidelines are similar to those for people who have been sick with COVID-19 and presumably have some level of natural immunity. If someone is within three months of their initial infection, they also do not need to be quarantined unless they develop symptoms.
Scientists are still unsure whether vaccinated people can spread the coronavirus to others. The research is ongoing and there should be clearer answers soon. However, based on what we know about vaccines and viral infections, there is a good chance that someone who has been vaccinated will be less contagious if they have an asymptomatic infection. For the CDC, the benefits of minimizing quarantines outweigh the potential, probably small, risk of viral spread.
More than 33 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.