Vaccines are here, bringing hope of returning to life as we knew it before the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ve received your vaccine, so now what? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued new guidelines for those who are fully vaccinated. You are considered fully vaccinated:
- Two weeks after your second dose in a 2-dose series, like the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- Day 29 after a single dose vaccine like Johnson & Johnson
If you have been fully vaccinated, there are some things you can do now that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. If you are fully vaccinated, you don’t need to quarantine or get tested after being exposed to COVID-19 unless you are showing symptoms. You can also:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without social distancing or wearing masks
- Visit with unvaccinated people indoors from a single household who are at low risk for developing severe COVID-19 without wearing masks or social distancing
But don’t let your guard down just yet. Even if you are fully vaccinated, the CDC says you should still:
- Continue to wear a mask and social distance in public and when visiting unvaccinated people who are high risk for a severe case of COVID-19
- Avoid medium and large in-person gatherings
- Refrain from travel
- Get tested if you are experiencing symptoms
Why continue safety practices after you're vaccinated?
- Current vaccines can be as much as 95% effective; however, they are not 100% effective
- Current vaccines may be less effective against new strains of the virus
- We don’t know how long protection lasts after vaccination
- We don’t know if those who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus, even if they are asymptomatic
- Safety practices like wearing a mask help protect those who aren’t vaccinated or have a weakened immune system
“A critical step to stopping the spread of COVID-19 is receiving a vaccine,” says Dr. John Brooks, infectious disease specialist and chief medical officer at McLaren Port Huron. “However, wearing a mask, social distancing and hand hygiene are still important while we build community immunity, whether you have been vaccinated or not.”
Learn how McLaren is keeping our patients and community safe during the pandemic. Visit www.mclaren.org/safecare.