Fully vaccinated against Covid-19? Here are dos, don’ts by CDC and a word of caution on variants

More than 305 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered globally so far, according to a scientific online publication Our World in Data.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday issued much-awaited guidelines for people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). According to a scientific online publication Our World in Data, more than 305 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered globally so far, of which the United States alone accounts for over 90 million doses. This includes fully and partially vaccinated people as different vaccines may have different dosing regimens.

A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at a Veterans Affairs medical centre Covid-19 vaccination site in Washington, D.C.(Bloomberg)

“There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in their own homes... As the science evolves and more people get vaccinated, we will continue to provide more guidance to help fully vaccinated people safely resume more activities,” CDC director Rochelle P Walensky said while announcing the guidelines.

Here’ the list of activities fully vaccinated people can safely resume:

1. They can visit fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart.
2. They can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household if none of them has an increased risk for severe illness from the infection.
3. They don’t need to quarantine and stay away from others after contact with someone who has Covid-19. However, the CDC has suggested people living in a group setting like a correctional facility or group home to stay away from others and get tested after contact with someone with the infection.

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Here are the precautions that fully vaccinated individuals should continue to follow:

1. They should continue wearing a mask, stay at least 6 feet apart, and practice other social distancing measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households.
2. They should continue to avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings and delay domestic and international travel. If they do travel, they should follow health department travel requirements and recommendations.
3. They should watch out for Covid-19 symptoms, especially if they have been around someone who is sick. In case of such symptoms, they should get tested, stay home and away from others.

CDC said that though Covid-19 vaccines are effective at preventing viral infection, especially severe illness and death, the US federal agency is still learning about the efficacy of vaccines against variants of coronavirus. Citing early data, the CDC stated that the vaccines may work against some variants but could be less effective against others. “We’re still learning how well Covid-19 vaccines keep people from spreading the disease. Early data show that the vaccines may help keep people from spreading Covid-19, but we are learning more as more people get vaccinated,” it added.