Fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing, according to new guidance issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fully vaccinated people can also visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease.
People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second vaccine dose if they’ve been vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna two-dose vaccine or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the CDC said.
Fully vaccinated people do not have to quarantine or get tested after a known exposure to COVID-19 if they are asymptomatic, the CDC also said.
Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear face masks and maintain social distance in public settings, according to the CDC’s new interim recommendations.
They should also continue to wear masks and maintain social distance when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease, or who have an unvaccinated household member at increased risk for severe disease, the guidance document says.
Unvaccinated people should also continue to wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households.
They should also avoid medium and large-sized in-person gatherings.
All three authorized COVID-19 vaccines have demonstrated 65% to 95% efficacy against symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, the CDC said today in a science brief posted on its website.
All three vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy — over 85% — against COVID-19 severe enough to require hospitalization.
Preliminary data suggest COVID-19 vaccination may also protect against asymptomatic infection, the CDC said.
Vaccine performance against the emerging variants of the coronavirus is a mixed bag so far, however and is still under investigation.
Preliminary evidence suggests that the COVID-19 vaccines presently authorized in the United States will likely be effective against emerging variants, the CDC said. But evidence so far suggests reduced effectiveness against infection by the B.1.351 South African variant.
See more Coronavirus coverage, data & updates
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