The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can get along in the same way – in a single household – with people who are at low risk for serious diseases, as in the case of vaccinated grandparents who visit healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance Monday.
The guidelines are designed to meet the growing demand as more adults are vaccinated and ask themselves whether it offers greater freedom to visit family members, travel or do other things as before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world last year has. .
“With more and more people being vaccinated every day, we are starting to make a comeback,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said.
VIDEO: Watch the full CDC announcement
At a news conference on Monday, she called the leadership a “first step” toward restoring normalcy to the way people come together. She said more activities would be good for individuals who are vaccinated once the effects of deaths and deaths subside, more Americans are vaccinated, and because more science is emerging about the ability of those vaccinated to get the virus and spread.
The CDC goes on to recommend that fully vaccinated people should still wear well-fitting masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when in public. The CDC also advised vaccinated people to be tested if they develop COVID-19-related symptoms.
The CDC leadership did not speak to people who may have gained some immunity by becoming infected and recovering from the coronavirus.
Officials say a person is vaccinated as fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose. About 31 million Americans – or only about 9% of the U.S. population – have so far been fully vaccinated with a federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.
Authorized vaccine doses first became available in December, and these were products that required two doses that were at different weeks of each other. But since January, a small but growing number of Americans have been completely vaccinated and are asking themselves questions such as: Do I still have to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?
The guidelines were ‘welcome news’ for a country that is understandably tired of the pandemic and is striving to resume normal activities’, said Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the CDC, said.
“I hope this new guideline provides the momentum for everyone to be vaccinated when they can and that it gives states the patience to follow the roadmap for public health needed to reopen their economies and communities safely,” Besser said. said in a statement.
But some have said the lead is too cautious.
Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Public Health, said the guidance is reasonable in many ways – with the exception of travel.
The CDC has not amended its travel recommendations, which discourage unnecessary travel and should be tested within days of the trip. It may seem confusing to vaccinated people hoping to visit family across the country or abroad.
“They should relax for those who are vaccinated” and immediately publish electronic standards for documents indicating whether a person has been fully vaccinated, Khan said.
The new guidance also says nothing about visiting restaurants or other places, although governors lift restrictions on businesses, Drs. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University, formerly Baltimore’s health commissioner, said.
Wen said the CDC should have had some sort of lead ready for vaccination in January, when some people started the first dose. And she calls the guidance that came out Monday “too cautious.”
“The CDC misses a great opportunity to link the vaccination status with the reopening of leadership. By coming out with such limited leadership, they are missing the window to influence state and national policies,” Wen said in an e -pos said.
But some people who were fully vaccinated were delighted with Monday’s news.
Ruth Michienzi was among those who received her second and final dose of vaccinations at a pharmacy in a Stop and Shop supermarket in Woburn, Massachusetts, on Monday morning.
The 91-year-old resident of nearby Burlington said she was fine with continuing to wear a face mask in public and following other safety guidelines, even after she was fully vaccinated.
But Michienzi also said she was excited to finally be able to take off her mask in front of her three great-grandchildren. She has seen them in person since she received her first shot about a month ago, but has been wearing her mask.
“I hope they remember me,” she said.
“I’ve been doing this for a year and I do not want that year to be wasted,” Michienzi said of the safety regulations. “I think it’s smart to wait.”
However, a few customers, who were not in line to receive shots, openly buzzed about the continued restrictions and expressed fears that stricter mandates for travel and socialization would follow, even if more were vaccinated.
Grace McShane, 61, of Melrose, also received her second dose Monday in the same supermarket.
She says she qualified for the vaccine because she is at high risk, including a heart attack last year. The home caregiver said she was doing well with the ongoing restrictions, even after she was vaccinated.
“Even if you’ve been vaccinated, it’s better to be safe than sorry. It’s the new normal. It’s part of life and you just have to adapt to it,” McShane said.
She said she was looking forward to embracing her three grandchildren without wearing a mask. Her adult children were also vaccinated as essential workers, she said.
“Just cuddle and give them hugs,” McShane said. “That’s all I want to do.”
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Associated Press reporters Phil Marcelo in Boston and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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