CDC Releases Highly Anticipated Guidance for People Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19

CNN reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new guidelines that permit people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to safely visit with other vaccinated individuals and small groups of unvaccinated people under certain circumstances. Fully vaccinated people are defined as those who are two weeks past their second dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, or two weeks past a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. "The level of precautions taken should be determined by the characteristics of the unvaccinated people, who remain unprotected against COVID-19," the guidelines state. The document specifies that fully vaccinated people can visit other vaccinated people indoors without masks or social distancing; visit indoors with unvaccinated people from a single household without masks or social distancing, provided the unvaccinated people are at low risk for severe disease; and waive quarantine and testing if exposed to someone with the virus and who is asymptomatic, but should watch for symptoms for 14 days. However, the guidelines also say some precautions must still be adhered to, including mask-wearing and social distancing around unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19, or if the unvaccinated person has a household member who is at higher risk. The same precautions also are recommended when visiting unvaccinated people from multiple households.