The USA, no quarantine for vaccinated people who came into contact with a Covid-19 case

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in more than 2.34 million deaths worldwide. The most affected country is the United States with just under 470,000 victims, ahead of Brazil (233,520), Mexico (168,432), India (155,252), and the United Kingdom (113,850). People who have been “fully vaccinated” against the coronavirus, who have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, can skip the required quarantine in case of contact with a positive. The US center for disease control and prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday.

The center has explained that this does not mean that vaccinated people can stop taking established anti-coronavirus precautions. “Fully vaccinated people who meet the criteria will no longer be kept in quarantine following exposure to someone with Covid-19,” the CDC stressed in updates to its vaccination guide webpage. The criteria referred to are having had both doses with the booster carried out at least two weeks before, time considered adequate for the development of full immunity. 

However, as it is not yet clear how long the protection lasts, the CDC warns that if the vaccinated person received the booster more than three months earlier, as a precaution, he should put himself in quarantine in case of contacts at risk, or of suspicious symptoms. “This recommendation to give up quarantine for people with vaccine-derived immunity is in line with quarantine recommendations for those with natural immunity, which facilitates its implementation,” the CDC added, clarifying the importance of the new indications. Especially, for vaccinated health workers, who could thus continue to work even in case of contact with a positive case.

In the past 24 hours, the United States recorded 93,166 new coronavirus cases and an additional 3,219 deaths related to the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University tally. The new cases bring the overall toll of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 27,285,621 and that of deaths to 471.42.

California is now the US state with the highest number of deaths caused by the coronavirus: according to the counts of Johns Hopkins University, the total death toll from Covid-19 of the ‘Golden State’ has risen to 45,351, thus exceeding the State of New York (45,312), which until now held this sad record. California had seen a surge in infections last fall, from a total of one million before Thanksgiving (November 26) to over three million in mid-January. The third US state with the most deaths in Texas (40,148).