On Monday morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. To date, there have been three vaccines that have received an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with the most recent being the one produced by Johnson and Johnson.
“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 agency said.
The CDC outlined three things that Americans can begin to resume if they have 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.
According to the CDC, being “fully vaccinated” means that you are two weeks out from your second dose if you received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks out from the single vaccine dose.
“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 Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the CDC. “There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in the privacy of their own homes.”
As of Sunday, March 7, about 58.9 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including about 30.7 million people who have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
The CDC also outlined a few things that Americans should still continue to do even after being fully vaccinated:
- You should still take steps to protect yourself and others in many situations, like wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart from others and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.
- 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 the guidance at your workplace.
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In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey recently signed an executive order that tweaked some of the existing mitigation measures. His order eliminated the capacity limits that had been placed on bars and restaurants earlier this year.
Around the country, the seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is around 56,000, around the same as August of last year. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 are the lowest that the country has seen since last October, as well.
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