Credit CDC
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In my last blog we looked at the CDC's announcement, and interim guidelines, on how, when, and where fully vaccinated individuals can relax some (but not all) of the stringent social distancing measures mandated by this pandemic.
While there are a good many details in these guidelines, in a nutshell these new recommendations allow fully vaccinated individuals to:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart.
- Visit with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease.
- Refrain from quarantine and testing if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19 after contact with someone who has COVID-19.
Along with their announcement, yesterday the CDC published a scientific brief outlining the evidence used to make these new recommendations. As more evidence comes in,these recommendations will likely evolve.
Below you'll find a link, and some excerpts, from a much larger presentation. You'll want to follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Science Brief: Background Rationale and Evidence for Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
Updated Mar. 8, 2021
Key Points
- COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized in the United States are effective against COVID-19, including severe disease.
- Preliminary evidence suggests that the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines may provide some protection against a variety of strains, including B.1.1.7 (originally identified in the United Kingdom). However, reduced antibody neutralization and efficacy have been observed for the B.1.351 strain (originally identified in South Africa).
- A growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. However, further investigation is ongoing.
- Modeling studies suggest that preventive measures such as mask use and social distancing will continue to be important during vaccine implementation. However, there are ways to take a balanced approach by allowing vaccinated people to resume some lower-risk activities.
- Taking steps towards relaxing certain measures for vaccinated persons may help improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake.
- The risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus. Vaccinated people could potentially still get COVID-19 and spread it to others. However, the benefits of relaxing some measures such as quarantine requirements and reducing social isolation may outweigh the residual risk of fully vaccinated people becoming ill with COVID-19 or transmitting the virus to others.
- Guidance for fully vaccinated people is available and will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
Background
Comprehensive prevention measures are critical strategies to reduce the burden of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States. These prevention measures include wearing a mask, maintaining at least six feet of physical distance from others, avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfection, following CDC travel guidance, and following workplace or school guidance related to personal protective equipment use or SARS-CoV-2 testing 1.
COVID-19 vaccination is an additional critical prevention measure to help end the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently three COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use: two mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) and one viral vector vaccine (Janssen [Johnson & Johnson]). People are considered fully vaccinated if they are ≥2 weeks following receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series (mRNA vaccines), or ≥2 weeks following receipt of a single-dose vaccine (Janssen).
While some prevention measures will continue to be necessary regardless of vaccination status, fully vaccinated persons may be able to engage in some activities with low or reduced risk of acquiring or transmitting COVID-19. The benefits of avoiding disruptions such as unnecessary quarantine and social isolation may outweigh the residual risk of becoming ill with COVID-19 or transmitting the virus to others. The ability of vaccinated people to gradually resume some aspects of normal life will optimize well-being and may help improve vaccine acceptance 2.Public health recommendations for people fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines must consider the evidence, including vaccine efficacy against symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19, as well as vaccine impact on SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, other individual and societal factors are important when evaluating the benefits and potential harms of prevention measures among vaccinated individuals. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and CDC routinely consider factors such as population values, acceptability among stakeholders, and feasibility of implementation when making vaccine recommendations 3. These considerations are also useful when making public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people.In this scientific brief, we summarize evidence available through March 3, 2021 for the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines (administered according to the recommended schedules) and additional considerations used to inform public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people, including:
- Vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection
- Vaccine performance against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant strains
- Impact of prevention measures in the context of vaccination
- Population attitudes and behaviors towards vaccination and prevention measures
Admittedly, COVID is an evolving threat, and it may still have some surprises in store for us. But for now - and for the first time in a year - with the help of these vaccines we appear to be getting a handle on curbing this pandemic.
But it is too soon to discard the other public health measures - face covers in public, avoiding crowds, hand hygiene, etc. - that have gotten us to this critical point in the pandemic.
