Got your COVID shots? What the CDC says you can do once vaccinated

It takes two COVID-19 vaccinations for you to be fully vaccinated with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine. Add two weeks after your second dose for the vaccine to become fully effective (unless you get the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but you still have to wait the two weeks).

Then what? After more than a year of sticking close to home, wearing masks, staying six feet from others and washing your hands whenever possible, what can you do now that you couldn’t do the past 12 months or more?

Enticing as it may be to celebrate with friends, visit a live music venue or crowd into a stadium – a watch out! Most in the U.S. still have not gotten even their first vaccine injection. Variants are multiplying and spreading around the world. Many around the world may not be vaccinated for years to come.

Still, you will have some leeway. Here are some things you can do once your COVID shots become fully effective:

·      You Can Be Mask-less Around Other Fully Vaccinated People. Indoors or outdoors, according to theU.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). But here’s the “big if”: there’s still some chance you could make each other sick with COVID. However, the risk is very low and shouldn’t lead to hospitalization or death.

·      You Can Be Mask-less Around Unvaccinated Groups. Again, indoors or outdoors, the CDC advises – but with just one (1) other household than your own (such as relatives living in one different house). Just make sure no one is a high risk of becoming seriously ill and no one lives with high-risk people, such as those with an underlying health issue or the elderly.

·      You Can Avoid Quarantines and COVID Tests. If you’re vaccinated and were in contact with someone with COVID, no need to stay at home for 14 days.

·      You Can (Probably/Possibly/Maybe) Travel. The CDC doesn’t recommend it yet, but many infectious disease experts see little risk if you’re careful. Concerns about airlines, hotels, rental cars, etc. can be addressed with masks and disinfectant wipes. A particular concern: picking up a variant virus, such as those inBrazil, South Africa or the United Kingdom. Still, careful U.S. domestic travel can occur with little risk.

·      Hug those kids. Recent media reports are awash with vaccinated, teary-eyed grandparents hugging small grandkids. Join the crowd.

Vaccines build up in your body infection-fighting antibodies, providing a robust immunity should someone with COVID-19 come in contact with you. Still, post-vaccine, your risk isn’t zero. You might become infected with COVID-19.You might endanger high-risk family, friends or others. What should you do?

Health experts recommend continuing to wear a mask in public and when with more one household, especially when public gatherings are sizable and ventilation poor.Keep a six-foot distance and keep routinely washing your hands.

Think about flu. Flu shots aren’t perfect. Being vaccinated doesn’t always save you from being infected and ill. But flu vaccines help ward off illness or alleviate sickness. That’s the beauty and benefit of the COVID-19 vaccine, too.

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