More and more people are getting vaccinated and it is so exciting! While we are all anxious to get back to "normal," there are important considerations to keep in mind about life after your vaccine.
The first important consideration before making any changes to your precautions- are you truly "fully vaccinated"? It takes time for your body to make a full immune response to a vaccine that will provide you with the protection you need. Being "fully vaccinated" means that you are at least 2 weeks out from your second dose of a two dose series (Pfizer or Moderna), or at least 2 weeks out from receiving the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. I keep seeing lots of posts on social media of people going out to celebrate the day they receive their second dose- hold the celebration for at least 2 weeks!
Once you are fully vaccinated, what can you do differently? According to CDC guidance, you can:
Gather indoors with one or a small group of other fully vaccinated people without social distancing or masking
Visit indoors without a mask with one household of unvaccinated people who are not at risk for severe illness
Travel domestically without a pre- or post-travel test
Travel domestically without quarantining after travel
Travel internationally without a pre-travel test (depending on destination- check here for more information)
Travel internationally without quarantining after travel
Avoid quarantining and testing if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19 (as long as you don't live in a large group setting)
There are still precautions you must take even when fully vaccinated:
Avoid visiting indoors with people who are at risk for severe disease from COVID-19, and if you are around these individuals, maintain social distance and wear a mask
Continue to avoid large gatherings
Continue masking and social distancing in public settings or if you are around unvaccinated individuals from more than one household
Watch for symptoms of COVID-19 and isolate from others and be tested if you develop symptoms
We know that the vaccines available are safe and effective at preventing severe illness from COVID-19. We still don't know how long that protection lasts or how well the vaccines prevent transmission of COVID-19 to others (although early data shows they likely do), especially with the new variants. Until more are vaccinated and we know more, we need to continue to do our part to live our lives with these precautions in place.
Our office has been approved as a COVID-19 vaccination site but we still don't know if or when we will receive any vaccines. If you have the opportunity to receive a vaccine somewhere else, take it! Current members will be notified as soon as we receive notice that we will receive vaccines. If you are not a current member and would also like to be notified, please sign up for our vaccine waitlist here. On this page we also have information about the other vaccination sites and links to their scheduling portals and wait lists, as well as a standby waitlist where you can sign up to be notified of last-minute vaccine availability.