And sorry, even grandparents who have not been vaccinated should not bring their grandchildren to church or in any other way expose them to crowds, CDC officials said during a webinar.
The CDC will update its guidelines as soon as it becomes clear how well vaccination can prevent the spread of the virus, but there are still restrictions on what people who need to be fully vaccinated should do.
“In the environment that the unvaccinated people are from a single household and that all the unvaccinated people are at low risk for severe Covid-19 disease, no preventative measures are necessary, so these visits can take place indoors without mask or physical distance. , “said Tami Skoff, CDC epidemiologist on the Vaccine Task Force’s clinical guidelines team.
“And the example we want to give here is that fully vaccinated grandparents can visit with their unvaccinated daughter and her non-vaccinated children, assuming that none of them runs the risk of having serious illnesses. These visits can be done indoors without putting on masks or physical distance, “Skoff said during a CDC webinar about interim recommendations for public health for people who have been fully vaccinated.
These recommendations only apply to people who have been fully vaccinated, Skoff said. This means that it is two weeks since the second dose of a two-dose vaccine series, or two weeks since the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was received.
“There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that people who are fully vaccinated are less likely to have asymptomatic infection, and therefore less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others,” Skoff said. said.
“We know that Covid vaccines are very effective in preventing people from contracting symptomatic diseases (and) even more effective in preventing people from contracting serious Covid-19 disease. In addition, as I just discussed, you know that there are there is a lot of evidence that the currently available vaccines have helped to reduce or stop the spread of this virus from people who have been fully vaccinated to others, ‘she said.
But there are two major exceptions that require everyone to follow standard precautions, such as physically removing and wearing a mask. One is that any of the non-vaccinated people are at increased risk for severe Covid-19, such as older adults, pregnant women, or people with Down syndrome, among others. The other thing would be if more than two houses that were not vaccinated mix.
“According to the CDC recommendations, if non-vaccinated persons from more than one household participate in a visit, these visits should continue to take place outside and all, regardless of vaccination status, should be physically removed and wear well-fitted masks,” Skoff said. .
“The example we would like to give here is when we visit two families with each other. Both families have two adults who have been fully vaccinated and two children who have not been vaccinated. In this example, we recommend that the visit take place outdoors and that everyone wears masks and bodily “distance,” said Skoff.
Asked if it would be okay for some adults who have been fully vaccinated to take children to church, Skoff said no.
Children, she said, can mostly not be vaccinated and they could be at risk in the church crowd. “The current CDC recommendations are that all people, including people who have been fully vaccinated, should continue to avoid medium and bulk gatherings,” Skoff said.
Similarly, even people who have been fully vaccinated should be careful when traveling, said Dr. Cynthia Ogden of CDC’s Covid emergency response team said.
“While we are vaccinating more people, preventative measures such as pre- and post-travel tests and self-quarantine after the trip, as well as wearing well-fitting masks, will help us prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he said. said Ogden.
“No vaccine is perfect.” A small number of people can still get Covid-19 after being fully vaccinated, and they can spread the virus to unvaccinated people. “Studies are now underway on how well the vaccines reduce the spread of the virus, and we may work on our recommendations, we will learn more,” Ogden added.
“We will be closely monitoring the trends in business over the next month,” she said. “Until more is known and the coverage of the vaccine increases, some preventative measures will be necessary for all people, regardless of the vaccination status.”