Susan Maxwell-Trumble, 67, of Babylon, gets the Johnson & Johnson...

Susan Maxwell-Trumble, 67, of Babylon, gets the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Jeanine Mucci at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore last Wednesday. Credit: Randee Daddona

New guidance, released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, loosened pandemic restrictions on fully vaccinated Americans, suggesting it's safe for them to gather together in small groups without masks or social distancing.

The long-awaited guidance affects about 31 million Americans — the nearly 10% of the U.S. population now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Here are some key questions and answers about what activities the CDC suggests are safe, and what precautions remain in place:

What does it mean to be fully vaccinated?

U.S. health officials consider an individual fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their last required vaccine dose. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine should be taken three weeks apart while the two-dose Moderna vaccine should be taken four weeks apart. A recently approved third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson requires only one dose.

I am a fully vaccinated Long Islander. What activities does the CDC suggest I can do safely?

The guidance says Americans who have completed vaccination protocols can safely gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a face covering or social distancing, although they should continue with those basic protocols out in public.

Fully vaccinated individuals can visit unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID infections without masks or social distancing, the guidance says. For example, fully vaccinated grandparents can visit indoors with their unvaccinated healthy children and grandchildren without masks or physical distancing, as long as no unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe infection, the CDC said.

"As more Americans are vaccinated, a growing body of evidence now tells us that there are some activities fully vaccinated people can do," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday.

What about fully vaccinated Americans visiting unvaccinated people who are at higher risk for COVID, such as the elderly?

The CDC recommends that all attendees — both the vaccinated and unvaccinated — wear masks and maintain a distance of at least six feet apart while hosting those get-togethers outdoors.

Rotary Club members from Rotary District 7255 hand out boxes of...

Rotary Club members from Rotary District 7255 hand out boxes of surgical masks to other Rotary clubs in Hicksville on Jan. 13. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

If the vaccine is nearly 100% effective, why is there any risk for an unvaccinated individual meeting with a fully vaccinated person?

While the vaccine has proved effective to date against serious cases of COVID, medical experts have yet to conclusively determine if a fully vaccinated person can be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, unknowingly passing it to others who have yet to be inoculated. It also remains unclear how the vaccines will respond long term to COVID-19 variants as the virus continues to mutate.

Nonetheless, the CDC said a fully vaccinated person who comes into close contact with someone with COVID-19 does not need to quarantine. Exceptions to this guidance include coming into close contact with infected people from certain high-risk, non-health care settings such as prisons, detention facilities and group homes.

Now that I'm fully vaccinated, can I dine at indoor restaurants, work out in my neighborhood gym or attend medium or large gatherings?

While the risk of contracting COVID during recreational activities is lower for fully vaccinated people, the CDC recommends they continue wearing a mask and practice social distancing while engaging in social activities in public settings. All individuals, regardless of vaccination status, are urged to continue avoiding medium or large in-person gatherings. If they choose to participate in larger gatherings, fully vaccinated people should continue wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing, the CDC said.

What about travel?

The CDC is not updating its travel recommendations and requirements and continues to urge Americans, including those fully vaccinated, to avoid nonessential travel.

"Every time that there's a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country," Walensky said, adding that the CDC's next set of guidance would have more data on travel. "We know that many of our variants have emerged from international places, and we know that the travel corridor is a place where people are mixing a lot."

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