CDC: Interim Guidance for COVID Vaccinated People Save

Among 330 million Americans, roughly 32.1 million have been fully vaccinated and 61.1 million have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (as of March 8th).

The CDC has issued new guidelines for those who have taken the COVID Vaccine, acknowledging the potential benefits of relaxing some measures (quarantine requirements) and reducing social isolation, while they study the safey of relaxing such measures in those who have been vaccinated.

Prior to the new guidance, the CDC recommended that COVID vaccinated individuals continue to employ mitigation measures (masking, distancing, etc) as vaccinated persons were thought to still be capable of colonization and transmission. However there is a growing body of evidence suggesting fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others.

Fully vaccinated against COVID-19 means that they are ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson [J&J]/Janssen )

The following recommendations apply to non-healthcare settings. Fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
• Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
• Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households

In addition the CDC recommends:

• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

If you are fully vaccinated and have COVID-19 symptoms:

• Although the risk that fully vaccinated people could become infected with COVID-19 is low, you should isolate from others, be clinically evaluated for COVID-19, and tested for SARS-CoV-2 if indicated.
• The symptomatic fully vaccinated person should inform their healthcare provider of their vaccination status at the time of presentation to care.

It is still unknown how long vaccine protection lasts and how much vaccines protect against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.  Until more is known and vaccination coverage