CDC issues guidance for fully vaccinated people

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines Monday for people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, saying they can gather indoors without mask in some cases, but to continue wearing a mask and social distancing in larger groups and to limit travel. 

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A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after getting a single-dose vaccine, like the Johnson & Johnson one.

The guidance says those who have been fully vaccinated can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people or with unvaccinated people from one other household without wearing a mask or socially distancing -- unless any of the people in that household has an increased risk for severe illness from Covid-19. 

And while the guidance does not directly address whether it's OK to hug each other in these limited circumstances, it implies that it's allowed when it says "without wearing a mask or socially distancing." 

"For example, fully vaccinated grandparents can visit indoors with their unvaccinated healthy daughter and her healthy children without wearing masks or physical distancing, provided none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe COVID-19," says the CDC guidance.

Further, the guidance says a fully vaccinated person does not need to quarantine if they have been around someone who has Covid-19,unless they have symptoms. 

The guidance makes an exception for people who live in group settings, like prisons or long-term care facilities, and says fully vaccinate people in these settings should quarantine for 14 days and get tested if they have been around someone with the virus, even if they don't have symptoms. 

What hasn't changed? 

The guidance says everyone, including those who are fully vaccinated, should wear a mask and socially distance in public, adding that it is still important to avoid medium- to large-sized crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. 

These measures are also recommended for fully vaccinated people who gather with more  than one household or are visiting with unvaccinated people who are or live with someone who is at increased risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19. 

The guidance continues to discourage domestic and international travel, and encourages those who do to follow CDC requirements and recommendations. 

The CDC says this cautious approach is because there is still many things about the vaccine that is not known. 

For example, the website notes that while it is known that the Covid-19 vaccines are effective at preventing Covid-19, especially severe illness and death, it is still not known how long the vaccines protect people,  how effective the vaccines are against variants of the virus or how well the vaccines work to keep people from spreading the disease. 

"Early data show that the vaccines may help keep people from spreading Covid-19, but we are learning more as most people get vaccinated," says the CDC. 

The Biden administration announced last week that there will be enough vaccine for every adult in the U.S. by May. As of March 7, 830,842 Kentuckians had received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, about 18.5% of the state's population.