According to the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) fully vaccinated people can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic. However, people should still keep taking precautions – like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces – in public places until we know more.

The CDC refers people fully vaccinated “2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine”.

“It’s not worth the risk to start changing your behavior in between your first and second shot. You’d be really only talking about waiting an extra few weeks to get your second dose and reap those benefits,” Dr. Vivek Cherian, an internal-medicine physician in Baltimore, told Insider.

CDC Guidelines for Fully Vaccinated

Fully vaccinated people:

• Can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart.
• Can gather indoors with unvaccinated people of any age from one other household without masks or staying 6 feet apart, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
• Do not need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel in the United States. Need to pay close attention to the situation at your international destination before traveling outside the United States:
  • Do NOT need to get tested before leaving the United States unless your destination requires it.
  • Still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States.
  • Should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
  • Do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
• If have been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms. However, if you live in a group setting and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.

Health experts recommend that ‘vaccinated people choose the indoor activities that matter most to them, then engage in these activities sparingly until most others are vaccinated as well’.

• Now That You’re Vaccinated Against COVID-19, Here’s What You Should And Shouldn’t Do
• When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated
• You’ve got your COVID-19 shot, now what? Dos and don’ts after vaccination

Vaccinated People Still Keep Doing

The CDC recommends, even after fully vaccination:

• Still take steps to protect yourself and others in many situations, like wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. Take these precautions whenever you are:
  • In public
  • Gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one other household
  • Visiting with an unvaccinated person who is at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 or who lives with a person at increased risk
• Should still avoid medium or large-sized gatherings.
• Still take steps, while traveling, to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested within 3 days of their flight (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months) and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.
• Should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
• Still need to follow guidance at your workplace.

“Until we know more about vaccine efficacy, everyone — even people who’ve had their vaccines — should continue practicing basic prevention steps,” writes Knox News.