At long last, the CDC is giving us some “real talk” about what will be safe (and what will still not be unsafe) once you are “fully vaccinated.”
To be clear, the term fully vaccinated means that you have received both of your Pfizer or Moderna doses and/or your one-shot J&J vaccine and it’s been two full weeks since your last shot.
The new guideline is posted on the CDC website as Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People.
The key points they outline are that fully vaccinated people can:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic
For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:
- Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
- Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
- Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
- Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
- Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
- Follow guidance issued by individual employers
- Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations
So what does this mean for travel?
In practice, very little, although it would seem that you if you and a friend are both fully vaccinated, it would be OK to share accommodations while traveling.
Frankly, I’m excited for the day to just be able to safely go sit with a friend in one of our apartments and enjoy real social interaction again.
Note that it does not go as far as saying that it’s safe to partake in indoor dining just yet (although that’s still going to be up to you where permitted) because we all have to remember that even 95% efficacy still leaves 5% chance of infection (although it’s expected that even in that 5%, the odds of severe COVID disease is extremely low).
It does portend well for the “great reopening” as we head towards eventual herd immunity.
For the time being, mask mandates will remain in public spaces including on planes, and as we get vaccinated, there’s still something to be said for wearing masks in solidarity with those that have not yet been lucky enough to get vaccinated as every human interaction cannot involve asking “Are you vaccinated?”
Beyond that, I’m a bit disheartened that in all this time, there has been no real US government attempt at digital vaccination passports. The cards we are given are all too easy to fake and just one idiot presenting a fake card while infected with COVID can still cause major problems.
However, private enterprise is taking the lead here, and digital passports may evolve anyway.
I know what many are thinking: “That’s not fair to people that aren’t vaccinated.” Well, as the vaccine becomes available to everyone, I think there’s less and less to complain about. While you may not be mandated to take the vaccine, herd immunity is vital to a return to normalcy. If you want to opt-out of the vaccine once offered, OK, but don’t expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you to move bout the world as you please either. That’s just common sense in my opinion, though I’m sure some will loudly contest my opinion here.
The bottom line is that the momentum is clearly shifting towards defeat of COVID. We will be on the “other side of this” before we know it.
And travel planning is really ramping up. Literally every airline or hotel representative I have spoken to recently after longer than normal hold times has told me that they have just been booking new reservation after new reservation all day long for the last month or so.
So, if you haven’t already, please read my thoughts on why you absolutely must be booking travel now for later (although even since I penned that post I see markedly less award space already…) along with my article on which points will be more and less valuable in the near term.
Thoughts?
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