CDC lifts limits for fully vaxed people
Says they can gather indoors, no masks or social distancing
People who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus can gather with other immunized people indoors with no masks or social distancing, according to the latest guidance from the CDC.
“We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in their own homes.”
According to the new CDC guidance released Monday, fully vaccinated people can do a number of activities that had been off limits since the pandemic began. This includes:
■ Visiting with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
■ Visiting with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe coronavirus indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
■ Refraining from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic
People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their last required dose of vaccine.
Fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit coronavirus, according to a growing body of evidence also cited by the CDC in Monday’s guidance.
About 9% of the United States population has been fully vaccinated, according to an estimate from the CDC, and about two million people are being vaccinated daily.
“With more and more people being vaccinated each day, we are starting to turn a corner,” Walensky said during a White House briefing.
The risk of getting coronavirus during activities such as dining indoors and going to the gym is also lower for fully vaccinated people, according to the CDC.
But those individuals still need to take some precautions including wearing a mask and social distancing in public and when visiting high-risk unvaccinated people, and avoiding large gatherings.
Taking the steps toward relaxing some public health measures for vaccinated people will also help improve vaccine acceptance and uptake, officials said.
The CDC did not yet update its travel guidance. Walensky said surges in travel relate to surges in cases and variants emerge as a result of travel, but guidance can be updated in the future.
Positive feedback from the medical community poured in following release of the new guidance.
Dr. Ashish Jha of Brown School of Public Health said in a tweet, “CDC totally gets it right.”
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, medical director of Special Pathogens Unit at Boston Medical Center, wrote, “It’s not easy to actively and incrementally move public health policy for an entire HUGE nation in the middle of a fast moving pandemic with evolving science. Bravo @CDCgov @CDCDirector.”