What can I do once I’m fully vaccinated?

On March 9th, 2021, the CDC updated the guidelines for fully vaccinated people. Here’s your cheat sheet on what’s changed and when you should still wear a mask.

What can I do once vaccinated? 

To start, what is fully vaccinated? This means it’s been two weeks since you received the single dose of J&J vaccine or two weeks since the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

What exactly are the guidelines? If you are fully vaccinated, you can do the following without masks or social distancing:

1. You can now eat in restaurants, get your haircut, go see a movie at the theaters, play team sports, and do many of the other activities from pre-pandemic. 
2. You can gather outdoors with a small group of people, vaccinated or unvaccinated. 
3. You can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people.
4. You can also gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household, if everyone is considered at low-risk. In this case, low-risk refers to people without serious underlying conditions or who don’t regularly interact with unvaccinated vulnerable groups (healthcare workers or staff at long-term care facilities, for example). 
5. If you learn that you have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19, you no longer need to quarantine. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you need to stay home until you test negative.

What can’t I do once vaccinated? 

Until more people are fully vaccinated, mask-wearing and social distancing is still required in certain situations. At your workplace and when visiting businesses, you must follow local regulations. This also applies to public transportation, including buses, trains, and subways. Travel is still limited (check CDC travel notices by destination before you go!), but if you do fly, masks are mandated on the plane and in the airport.

Large gatherings with unvaccinated people from multiple households are still not recommended. Fully vaccinated people returning to the workplace, visiting businesses, or attending events (e.g., concerts, sports games, religious services), still must adhere to statewide mandates.

In the meantime, encourage your friends and family to get vaccinated. 

Last update: June 7, 2021; 17:12 ET

Science review: JAB, ERS