Social distancing rules and mask requirements can be relaxed for people who get vaccinated, said the European Union’s disease prevention agency, which added signs that an accelerated release of shots against the coronavirus could pave the way for a gradual return to normalcy.
When fully vaccinated individuals meet other fully vaccinated people, physical distancing and the use of face masks can be relaxed, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said in a statement. guidelines published Wednesday. The rules can be relaxed even when vaccinated people meet people who have not yet received the vaccine, as long as there are no risk factors for serious illness or a lower vaccine effectiveness in those present.
The reasoning is that people who have received the vaccines have a very low risk of developing serious illness, while the risk of getting the virus from someone vaccinated is also low.
Europe has ended up making a corner Covid-19 Vaccines
EU countries have been trapped in prolonged closures amid persistent outbreaks of infections across the continent. As vaccination launches picks up, the 27-country bloc is working on measures to ease restrictions, including travel, for those who have been inoculated or recovered from the virus and therefore considered immune, by introducing of vaccine passports.
ECDC guidelines may provide additional justification for gradually relaxing measures for the growing part of the population receiving the shots.
Requirements for testing and quarantine of travelers and regular testing in the workplace “may be waived or modified for fully vaccinated individuals as long as there is no or very low level of circulation of immune escape variants. “, said the guidelines.