Coronavirus Quarantines Loosened For Vaccinated Georgians: Kemp

ATLANTA, GA — Gov. Brian Kemp issued his latest extension to Georgia’s COVID-19 state of emergency Friday with one critical amendment: If two weeks have passed since you’ve been fully vaccinated, you don’t have to quarantine if you’ve been exposed.

The amendment also suggests that immunity provided by a vaccination has a limit: If you’re more than three months past your last shot, you will have to quarantine. This shouldn’t be a problem for Georgians, though, because COVID-19 vaccinations began only about a month ago.

The change to the governor’s executive order reflects the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a statement from the governor’s office. It also reflects Georgia’s progress in vaccinating its citizens.

At a news conference Thursday, Kemp reported that nearly 1.9 million COVID-19 vaccines had been given to nearly 1.2 million Georgians, with “well over half” of the 2 million Georgians eligible for shots having received them. Also, at least one dose has been administered to 800,000 Georgia seniors, Kemp said.

These statistics are similar to numbers posted Friday by on the CDC COVID-19 website, which show more than 2 million doses administered in Georgia, and more than 1.2 million Georgians having received a second dose.

In another change, Friday’s extension spells out that those who’ve recovered from COVID-19 and have met criteria for ending isolation should monitor themselves for symptoms over the following 90 days.

Finally, the latest extension also requires that places considered to be both a bar and a live-performance venue should adhere to the more restrictive guidance laid out for bars.

This is the part of the executive order on pages 10-11 covering vaccinations and those who’ve recovered:

If the person has … been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning two (2) or more weeks have passed since receipt of one does (sic) of a single-dose vaccine or the second dose in a two-dose vaccine series and not more than three (3) months have passed following receipt of the last dose of vaccine; or … recovered from illness due to laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection, has already met criteria to end isolation, and is within (90) days following the onset of symptoms of the initial laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection or ninety (90) days of the first positive COVID-19 test result if they were asymptomatic during the initial infection; the person shall not be required to quarantine but shall actively monitor for Symptoms of COVID-19.

The complete executive order, document 02.26.21.02, can be found on the Georgia governor's website.

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