People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can meet without masks indoors in small groups with others who have been inoculated but should avoid non-essential travel and continue to wear face-coverings in public, the Biden administration said on Monday (8/3/2021).
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said fully vaccinated people could also meet in small groups with unvaccinated individuals deemed at low-risk for severe COVID-19 from one other household without masks.
The CDC said fully vaccinated people should continue to follow many precautions such as avoiding big in-person gatherings, wearing masks when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households, or wearing masks when with people at risk for severe COVID-19.
The recommendations come as about 30 million people, or 9.2% of the U.S. population, have been fully inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer Inc/ BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc, and Johnson & Johnson, according to CDC data.
Nearly 18% of the U.S. population or 58.9 million adults had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC last month said vaccinated individuals could skip the standard 14-day quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID-19, as long as they remain asymptomatic.