CDC Clarifies What You Can Do When Fully Vaccinated

Over 30 million people in the US are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s wonderful, but just like everything else about this past year and COVID, there’s been some confusion about what people can and can’t (or should and shouldn’t) do when fully vaccinated. Now that the CDC has officially updated their recommendations, this information is vital to have and it also gives us some hope for what life may soon be like for more and more of us.

“Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” the CDC explains. And most importantly that means you can simply … be around people without masks.

Yes, indeed the CDC guidance is that you can “gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.” When it comes to those who are still not vaccinated, you can gather unmasked with people from one household without masks, unless of course, any of those people have a high risk of severe COVID illness.

But still, this is huge. Once you are vaccinated you can go have dinner with friends. Inside your living space, even! You can talk to people you love face to face. It’s tragic that it took a pandemic for us all to truly appreciate how precious and special it is to just share space with other humans outside of our household, but this is going to be huge.

Now, there’s a lot that still hasn’t changed. Here’s what the CDC still recommends even if you’re vaccinated.

• You should still do everything you’ve been doing to protect yourself and others in many situations, like wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, washing your hands, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. Take these precautions whenever you are:
  • In public
  • Gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one other household
  • Visiting with an unvaccinated person who is at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 or who lives with a person at increased risk
• You should still avoid medium or large-sized gatherings.
• You should still delay domestic and international travel. If you do travel, you’ll still need to follow CDC requirements and recommendations.
• You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
• You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace.

Okay, but what about those vaccines? As the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine becomes more widely available, should you hold out for Pfizer or Moderna? Are they better or more effective even though they take longer? Even though the mayor of Detroit recently turned down doses of the J&J vaccine (only to quickly walk that back), and there has been a lot of misinformation and speculation, the shot, like others, is safe and effective. Getting it will help end this pandemic.

“There is a single best vaccine. It’s the one that’s available to you today,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious disease with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn told US News and World Report. “Roll up your sleeve. Get it.” Although the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less effective against all symptomatic COVID cases, it is very effective against severe COVID cases, which is the important thing here. We want to see fewer people in hospitals and at risk of dying, and getting more shots into more arms will help that happen, no matter which company they’re from.

So get your vaccine as soon as you can, so we can all enjoy wonderful things like seeing our friends again as soon as possible.

(via: The Daily Beast, images: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—