Guidance for Vaccinated Individuals

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.

In indoor public spaces, the vaccination status of other people or whether they are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 is likely unknown. Therefore, it is recommended that fully vaccinated people continue to wear a mask that fits snugly against the sides of your face and doesn’t have gaps, cover coughs and sneezes, wash hands often, and follow any applicable workplace or school guidance.

These recommendations in the sections below can help you make decisions about daily activities after you are fully vaccinated. They are not intended for healthcare settings.

Who Is Considered A Fully Vaccinated Person?

A person is considered to be "fully vaccinated" for COVID-19 after at least two weeks have past since they have received the second dose of a 2-dose series (Pfizer or Moderna), or at least two weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson). This two-week period gives the body time to establish a strong immune response after the final dose has been administered.

Interim Guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released interim public health recommendations for those individuals who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. It is important to note that these guidelines will be updated and expanded based on the level of community spread of COVID-19, the proportion of the population that is fully vaccinated, and the rapidly evolving science on COVID-19 vaccines.

For more information (including recent changes), please refer to the CDC's website.

What Fully Vaccinated People Can Do

Fully vaccinated people in a non-healthcare setting can:

Resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance
Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel
Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States
Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
Refrain from routine screening testing if feasible