Vaccinated people can now do these things safely, CDC says in updated COVID guidance

Katie Camero
·4 min read

As millions of Americans receive COVID-19 shots every day, federal health officials acknowledge that fully vaccinated people can safely — and slowly — crawl back to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced new COVID-19 guidance for fully vaccinated Americans.

Now, people who are two weeks post their final doses of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine can ditch masks when outdoors “except in certain crowded settings and venues,” such as live performances, parades or sports events. Vaccinated Americans should still wear masks indoors, however, especially when around unvaccinated people.

People who are not vaccinated should continue precautions such as mask wearing, physical distancing and hand washing under all indoor and outdoor circumstances where infection risks are high.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the nation’s seven-day average for daily new coronavirus cases has dropped by about 21%, hospitalizations by about 9% and deaths by about 6%.

Walensky added that the new recommendations offer people “a way to assess their own risks for COVID-19 and determine what situations are safe.”

In response to the CDC’s updated guidance, President Joe Biden said during a Tuesday news conference that “the bottom line is clear: If you’re vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors.”

“So for those who haven’t gotten their vaccinations yet, especially if you’re younger, or think you don’t need it, this is another great reason to go get vaccinated now,” Biden said. “The vaccines are about saving your life, but also the lives of the people around you. They’re also about helping us get closer to more normal living ... without needing to mask up.”

When fully vaccinated people can safely not wear a mask

  • Walking, running or biking outdoors with people you live with

  • Attending a small, outdoor gathering with fully vaccinated family and friends

  • Attending a small, outdoor gathering with fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people

  • Dining at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households

When fully vaccinated people should wear a mask

  • Attending crowded, outdoor events, such as live performances, parades or sports events

  • Visiting a barber or hair salon

  • Going to an uncrowded, indoor shopping center or museum

  • Riding public transport with limited occupancy

  • Attending a small, indoor gathering of fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people from multiple households

  • Going to an indoor movie theater

  • Attending a full-capacity worship service

  • Singing in an indoor chorus

  • Eating at an indoor restaurant or bar

  • Participating in an indoor, high intensity exercise class

What the data shows

The updates add to previous guidance from the CDC, released in early March, that said fully vaccinated people could gather indoors with other fully vaccinated individuals without masks or physical distancing.

Since the onset of the pandemic, medical experts have said there’s a lower chance of coronavirus transmission outside than inside since viral particles disperse more quickly when not in an enclosed location.

Infections can happen outside, but they’re rare — about 1 in 1,000 infections, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, estimated to NPR.

“I think if somebody were right next to you and spending, let’s say, 10, 15 minutes running in that little stream of breath that you’re exhaling, there might be a risk,” Jha told NPR. “But somebody you’re running by who is there for just a second, the risk is — it’s extremely rare.”

Emerging evidence shows that the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are capable of preventing infections — both those that cause symptoms and those that don’t — in real-world conditions, that is, outside the controlled laboratory settings where the initial clinical trials took place.

A study conducted by the CDC, which was published in March, found that risk of coronavirus infection dropped by 90% two weeks after receiving a second, final dose and by 80% two weeks following a single dose among nearly 4,000 health care workers, first responders and other essential workers across six states.

However, some people may still contract the coronavirus after maximum protection from the vaccine has been reached. That’s because no vaccine is 100% effective against illness. Experts call these cases “breakthrough infections.”

As of April 20 when about 87 million Americans had been fully vaccinated, 7,157 breakthrough infections were reported to the CDC. The majority were among women (64%) and nearly half were among those older than 60 years old (46%). There were 498 hospitalizations and 88 deaths among those cases.

Data on breakthrough cases are updated every Friday.

More than 95.8 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, about 29% of the population, according to a CDC tracker.

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