CDC Issues New Mask-Wearing, Testing Guidance For Vaccinated Individuals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask-wearing guidance to recommend that vaccinated people in COVID-19 hot spots and those who live with vulnerable household members resume wearing them in indoor public settings.

The CDC also has reversed its guidance on individuals who should be tested for the virus. Last week, the agency released guidance that recommends that fully vaccinated people exposed to COVID-19 get tested. The revised guidance instructs fully vaccinated people to get a test after three to five days of being around someone with COVID-19, even if they do not have symptoms. These individuals also should also wear a mask indoors while awaiting a negative result, but do not have to quarantine unless it turns out they have contracted the virus.

The CDC’s new recommendations were based on data from a COVID-19 outbreak around the July 4 holiday weekend in Provincetown, Mass., that found three-quarters of people who tested positive for an infection were fully vaccinated. The CDC also has released a report that suggests fully vaccinated people who contract COVID-19 can spread the coronavirus to others as easily as unvaccinated people.