(Newser)
– It’s a step towards normalcy, now that more shots are being fired than ever: the CDC on Monday issued new guidelines with more freedoms for people who have been completely vaccinated. The rules are likely to appeal to grandparents who see their grandchildren in person for the first time in a year or so, as long as they live nearby. Some of the highlights:
- Who meets the requirements: Fully vaccinated people are the ones who have received both of us dose of Modern or Pfizer vaccines, or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, as CNN points out, people are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their final shot.
- Visits: The CDC states that it is safe for these people to visit indoors with unvaccinated people from a single home without wearing masks or distancing themselves socially. Washington Post. But long-distance travel is still discouraged and such visits should not be made if any of the unvaccinated people are at risk of serious illness.
- Example: “Fully vaccinated grandparents can visit them indoors with their healthy daughter and healthy children, without wearing masks or physically distancing themselves, as long as none of the family members are at risk of COVID-19 severe, “the CDC said, according to NBC News.
- Meetings: Fully vaccinated people can meet inside with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks.
- No changes: These people should still take the usual precautions of wearing a mask and social distancing in public, during meetings with unvaccinated people from various households, or when they are close to people at higher risk, according to the PA. They should continue to avoid medium and large groups, poorly ventilated interior spaces, and national and international travel.
- Exhibition: If you are exposed to someone who has COVID, fully vaccinated people do not need to be quarantined or tested unless they have symptoms.
- A reward: The acting CDC chief, Dr. Richard Besser, welcomes the new guidelines. “This opens the door for grandparents to get together with their children and grandchildren without masks, indoors, to make a good group hug,” he tells NBC.
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