We still need to wear masks in public, keep 6 feet of separation and practice good hand hygiene, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened its guidance some for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Published: March 11, 2021

We still need to wear masks in public, keep 6 feet of separation and practice good hand hygiene, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened its guidance for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

You are fully vaccinated two weeks after getting your second Pfizer or Moderna shot or 28 days after your single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

If you are fully vaccinated:

• You can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
• You can gather indoors with a single household of unvaccinated people without masks as long as nobody in that household has an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
• If you’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19, you don’t need to isolate or get tested unless you develop symptoms.

“Wear your mask until you’re sure that others around you are fully vaccinated or aren’t at risk for having severe COVID-19, or aren’t living with somebody who is at increased risk,” said Joseph M. Flynn, D.O., MPH, FACP, chief administrative officer of Norton Medical Group and physician-in-chief of Norton Cancer Institute. “Err on the side of caution, but this new guidance gives us some freedom to visit and socialize.”

Dr. Flynn also noted that a big part of the reason we’ve come this far is the huge numbers of people getting vaccinated. This isn’t a time to let up — when your turn comes up, get vaccinated. It’s very effective and very safe.

Everyone still needs to take precautions when in public, gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one household, or visiting an unvaccinated person at increased COVID-19 risk or living with a person at increased risk.