At this point, it’s been about a year since we’ve been advised to stay inside and away from each other as much as possible.
Although — to put it mildly — some were able to take on this responsibility better than others, it’s understandable that most people would anxiously wonder how much longer they’ll have to weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. As was the case when this all started, that question doesn’t necessarily have an easy answer but the introduction of various vaccines to the world has provided some hope for an eventual return to normalcy.
And based on the latest CDC guidelines, it seems as though some of us can take their cautious first steps towards that possibility.
The updates to the guidelines released by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention primarily concern those who have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine when applicable.
According to AP News , a person is considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after receiving their last dose of the vaccine. At the time of this writing, 31 million Americans (or 9% of the population) fall into this category.
And as the CDC outlined , these people are now able to gather among each other indoors without using masks or social distancing.
They’re also able to do this with unvaccinated people who share one other household unless a member of that household has a risk factor that would increase the severity of a COVID-19 infection.
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The CDC have also said that fully vaccinated people don’t have to self-isolate or get tested after coming into contact with someone who has the virus unless they show symptoms.
That said, they highlighted one exception to this particular guideline.
If the fully vaccinated person is in jail or lives in a group setting with others infected with COVID-19, they should get tested and stay away from others for 14 days even if they aren’t showing symptoms.
But before anyone gets too excited, this doesn’t mean the fully vaccinated get to do away with masks entirely.
As the BBC reported , the risk for a vaccinated person to transmit the coronavirus to an unvaccinated person remains unclear due to a lack of data.
For that reason, the CDC still recommends wearing masks and social distancing when they’re in public, meeting people from multiple households, or when visiting someone who either has or lives with someone who has an aforementioned risk factor.
By a similar token, medium-sized and large gatherings are still not advised.
The CDC also doesn’t advise traveling domestically or internationally unless it’s necessary for you.
As AP News reported , the advice to get tested for the virus within a few days of a given trip also remains unchanged.
Furthermore, the new guidelines aren’t clear on whether it’s advisable for fully vaccinated people to visit restaurants or other businesses.
Finally, the CDC is encouraging vaccinated people to be just as vigilant about potential COVID-19 symtpoms as before.
Once again, they encourage seeking testing and self-isolating if suspicious symptoms develop. They also mentioned that vaccination does not exempt Americans from their workplace’s COVID-19 response policies.
So while the change is a little more incremental than it might sound, we’re nonetheless seeing a new context in which people can gather as they would have before the pandemic emerged.
