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My daughter has received both vaccines and is more than 2 weeks removed from the second dose. She has received both vaccines and is more than 2 weeks removed from the second dose. She sees friends who are have also received both vaccines. What if a friend who has been vaccinated sees and does not socially distance from someone who is not yet vaccinated: can the vaccinated person contract the conronavirus and spread it to others (vaccinated or not)? Can one vaccinated person spread the coronavirus to another who then pass it on their unvaccinated family or friends?
We believe the CDC will be coming out with their official guidance for persons who have been vaccinated, so this response is our own opinion but we just want to also have readers know (and be confident) that the CDC is coming out soon with guidance.
For friends and family members that have completed their vaccinations (and have continued to comply with physical distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands when in public) it should be okay to meet together in private settings. There is a small risk that persons who are vaccinated may still be able to get infected and have asymptomatic infection or minimally symptomatic infection; yet they can still transmit the virus to any other persons that they are in close contact with. Until a large part of the population is successfully vaccinated and the local new cases (i.e., transmission activity) drops off dramatically and remains low, then we strongly endorse that everyone (whether vaccinated or not yet vaccinated) continue with physical distancing, masking, and hand hygiene. Why? Because when out in public spaces, we cannot tell who is vaccinated and un-vaccinated, we cannot see who is infected (asymptomatically or pre-symptomatically). So, there will be a problem with ongoing viral transmission until we can have high enough population immunity. Remember that many countries have been successful throughout this whole year in keeping their viral cases very low and quickly addressing outbreaks before they become out-of-hand before vaccines and with the use of wearing masks and physical distancing measures to which the entire population complied.
