According to the CDC, people who are fully vaccinated can live safely in the home.
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Now that more than 100 million people have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding its orientation to post-vaccine life. Finally, the trip is back on the table.
The first round of CDC recommendations, issued on March 8, allowed people who were fully vaccinated to meet indoors (without wearing masks or practicing social detachment) with others who were fully vaccinated. The agency also said that vaccinated people can safely spend time indoors with unvaccinated people. “From a single household with a low risk of severe COVID-19”, without masks or distance. If they come into contact with someone who is positive for COVID-19, they do not need to be tested or quarantined, as long as they have no symptoms. (According to the CDC, you are considered “fully vaccinated” about two weeks after receiving the second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or two weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine.)
On April 2, the CDC released two more updates on approved post-vax behaviors: The agency considered home travel safe for those fully vaccinated, adding that this group does not have to worry about testing before or after travel or in quarantine. after the trip. And the CDC says they can avoid testing before international travel – unless their destination requires it – and quarantine on their return.
“We know that people want to be vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they like with the people they love,” said CDC director Rochelle Walensky during a COVID-19 press conference at the White House announcing the guidelines last month. She emphasized, however, that “recommendations are only a first step” and that millions more people will need to be fully immunized before we can take less public health precautions collectively. For example, the CDC still recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks, avoid medium to large meetings, get tested if they have symptoms of COVID and practice social detachment.
But, as Dr. Richard Besser, the former acting director of the CDC, told NBC News, “This is a very welcome guideline.” He continued: “This opens the door for grandparents to meet with their children and grandchildren without masks, inside the house, for a nice group hug”. After a complicated start, the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine is progressing smoothly: on April 5, more than 18 percent of the US population is fully vaccinated, while almost twice as many people received a dose, according to the CDC . Last month, President Biden promised that, by the end of May, the federal government will have enough doses of several COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate all adult Americans.
This article has been updated.