It's official - we're one step closer to the pre-pandemic world.
CDC announced that it's not necessary to wear a mask or stay 6 feet apart if you're fully vaccinated, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws.
What Fully Vaccinated Mean?
You are considered fully vaccinated if:
- 2 weeks have passed after the second dose of a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- 2 weeks passed after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.
If you have certain health conditions, it's recommended to act carefully even if you're fully vaccinated.
What Can You Do?
- You can resume all activities you did prior to the pandemic.
- You don't need to wear a mask or stay 6 feet apart.
- If you travel within the US, self-isolation, and testing isn't required anymore.
- For international travel, you need to check the destination's rules. However, it's required for you to have your documentation on a flight. It's not necessary to self-isolate after returning to the US, but you'll still have to get tested.
- If you spend time with someone who is positive on COVID, you don't need to self-isolate yourself afterward.
What You Should Keep Doing?
- Follow the guidance of your workplace and local businesses.
- Watch for the COVID symptoms, the vaccine doesn't offer 100% protection
Conclusion
We know that vaccines are effective at preventing COVID spread, and especially severe illness and death.
However, they aren't 100% effective. They do better for some variants but could be less effective against others.
We're made huge progress in less than a year and a half, but we still have to learn a lot more - improve the current vaccines, and the long-term vaccines as well.
Take care, but a bit less than before.