The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday expanded its guidance on what people who are fully vaccinated should be safe in doing.
According to the CDC, if it has been two weeks since you have had two doses of either the Moderna vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should be safe to visit unvaccinated family and friends, but the visits should be limited to one unvaccinated household at a time.
The updated guidance comes as CDC epidemiologist Tam Skoff said that emerging research has shown the effectiveness of the vaccines.
“There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection, and therefore potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others,” Skoff said.
Skoff said that if a person who is fully vaccinated visits a household that has a member who is at high risk for contracting COVID-19, everyone needs to socially distance, wash hands and wear masks.
Here is what has changed with the CDC guidelines:
If you’ve been fully vaccinated:
- You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
- You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
- However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.
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