(Newser)
– It is a small step towards normality, now that more injections than ever are being given: The CDC released on Monday a new guideline with greater freedom for people who have been fully vaccinated. The rules are likely to please grandparents who are eager to see their grandchildren in person for the first time in about a year – as long as they live nearby. Some of the highlights:
- Who qualifies: The fully vaccinated are those who received Both doses of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, as CNN notes, people are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their final injection.
- Visits: The CDC says it is safe for these people to visit indoor spaces with unvaccinated people from a single home, without wearing masks or social distance, according to the Washington Post. But long-distance travel is still discouraged, and such visits should not be made if any of the unvaccinated people are at risk for serious illness.
- Example: “Fully vaccinated grandparents can visit indoors with their unvaccinated healthy daughter and healthy children without wearing masks or physical distance, as long as none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of serious COVID-19,” says the CDC, according to NBC News.
- Meetings: Fully vaccinated people can meet indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks.
- Unchanged: These people should still take the usual care of wearing a mask and social distance in public, during meetings with unvaccinated people from several households, or when close to people at higher risk, according to the AP. They must continue to avoid medium and large groups, poorly ventilated indoor spaces and domestic and international travel.
- Exhibition: If exposed to someone with COVID, the fully vaccinated individual does not need to be quarantined or tested, unless they have symptoms.
- A reward: The former interim chief of the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, considers the new guidelines to be welcome. “This opens the door for grandparents to meet their children and grandchildren without a mask, inside the house, for a nice collective hug,” he tells NBC.
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