‘Fully vaccinated people can skip COVID-19 quarantines’

People who have been fully vaccinated with two doses of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 can skip quarantine if they are exposed to someone infected with the virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday.

However, the disease control body clarified that this doesn’t mean they should stop taking precautions, it’s just not necessary for them to go into isolation.

“Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19,” the CDC said in an update.

“Vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria,” the CDC added.

The criteria for the vaccination is to have both shots with at least two weeks gap. That’s because it takes two weeks to build full immunity after the second dose of vaccine.

But the CDC says it’s not known how long protection lasts, so people who had their last shot three months ago or more should still quarantine if they are exposed. They also should quarantine if they show symptoms, the CDC said.

“This recommendation to waive quarantine for people with vaccine-derived immunity aligns with quarantine recommendations for those with natural immunity, which eases implementation,” the CDC said. The agency will update guidance if there is any further development.

People who have been vaccinated should still watch for symptoms for 14 days after they have been exposed to someone who is infected, the CDC added.

The body further said that everyone, vaccinated or not, needs to follow all other precautions to prevent the spread of the virus because it’s possible that even vaccinated people could harbour the virus in their noses and throats, and pass it to others.

“At this time, vaccinated persons should continue to follow current guidance to protect themselves and others, including wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands often, following CDC travel guidance, and following any applicable workplace or school guidance, including guidance related to personal protective equipment use or SARS-CoV-2 testing,” the agency said.

Vaccines prevent symptomatic illness but they have not yet been shown to prevent asymptomatic illness, the CDC noted. While people with no symptoms can spread coronavirus, the CDC said, “symptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission is thought to have a greater role in transmission than purely asymptomatic transmission.”

Plus, the benefits of not unnecessarily forcing people into lockdown for two weeks may outweigh the risks of transmission in these cases, the CDC said.