Washington Adopts CDC Guidance For Fully Vaccinated People

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington on Tuesday formally adopted new federal guidance for fully vaccinated residents, clarifying safe practices for socializing, mask use and potential exposures.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated adults could gather with each other indoors, without masks, and safely visit non-vaccinated people that belong to low-risk groups.

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the state Department of Health adopted the same guidelines for Washingtonians, highlighting two newly-allowed activities specifically:

• Gathering indoors with fully vaccinated people in private residences without wearing a mask.
• Gathering indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household in private residences (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

While the updated rules allow for some greater mobility for vaccinated people, state officials said it's still too early for them to ditch face coverings altogether.

"The CDC is quite clear that vaccinated people should continue to wear masks when they're in public, avoid crowds and take other precautions when gathering with unvaccinated people who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19," officials wrote. "Regardless of vaccination status, people should still take steps to protect themselves and others while in public settings. This includes wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. In addition, people should still avoid medium or large-sized gatherings and continue to watch for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if they’ve been around someone who is sick."

Another notable change in Tuesday's guidance relates to testing and isolation. In most cases, DOH said a vaccinated person does not need to quarantine or seek testing after being exposed to someone with COVID-19 unless they develop symptoms. However, there is one exception:

"If a vaccinated person lives in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and is around someone who has COVID-19, they should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even without symptoms," officials wrote.

Washington surpassed 2 million total doses administered across the state this week and is preparing to expand eligibility to more priority groups beginning March 22. According to the DOH dashboard, nearly 10 percent of Washington's residents are now fully vaccinated.

Learn more about vaccination in Washington on the DOH website, and check your eligibility status using the Phase Finder tool.