After a year of isolation and rigid safety guidelines, Granite Staters who have been fully vaccinated will be able to safely enjoy new freedoms.
Guidance recently issued by the CDC explains that people who have waited 2 weeks after their final shot can gather indoors with other vaccinated people without masks. However, that calculus becomes more complicated when the other party isn’t vaccinated.
If the unvaccinated friends or family members are at high-risk of developing a serious illness because of a preexisting condition or age, gatherings outdoors with tightly fitted masks are still the best plan of action, even for the person who is vaccinated because he or she could still potentially spread the virus, even if they won’t become ill. However, since the chance of transmission is low, meeting with healthy unvaccinated people is fine to do inside without masks. A gathering that includes multiple households of unvaccinated people is still discouraged because of the threat they pose to one another.
In practice, this means grandparents can safely visit their grandchildren without masks, but multi-family cocktail parties may have to wait.
Fully vaccinated people also do not need to quarantine or get tested after they’ve come in contact with a COVID-positive person, unless they develop symptoms of the virus. This is in line with state guidance that says the 10-day quarantine period does not apply to fully vaccinated Granite Staters.
Despite these new allowances, many of the safety precautions from the CDC remain in place— medium or large gatherings, traveling, and meeting with multiple unvaccinated households is discouraged.
While public activities like eating at a restaurant or going to the gym is safer with a vaccine, the CDC still recommends wearing masks and socially distancing in public spaces, as scientists are still learning how well the vaccine prevents spreading the virus to others.
Right now, new cases of COVID-19 are steadily declining while the percent of vaccinated people in the state is rapidly increasing. As of Thursday, about 21% of Granite Staters have received at least one shot and 10% have been fully vaccinated.
This month, teachers and and Granite Staters older than 50 will be able to sign up for vaccine appointments. Vaccines will be broadly available to teachers next week when a new, state-run registration system will open that allows school staff to book appointments as soon as March 22. The rest of the people in Phase 2B, including those who are 50 and older, will be able to register for their vaccination appointment starting March 22.
The state is also easing restrictions for all Granite Staters— including those who have not been vaccinated. At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu announced various restrictions, including travel requirements, retail capacity rules, and restaurant and entertainment limits, would be eased in response to the state’s declining number of daily COVID cases. The state is averaging about 210 new cases of the virus a day, around the same number of daily cases the state saw in Nov. 2020.
Still confused about what you can and cannot do? Follow the flowchart below.