Once you are fully vaccinated, you can safely do more of what seems like a distant memory: Put your mask away for many activities and even attend crowded events with your mask on.

Story by: Norton Healthcare on May 4, 2021

Once you are fully vaccinated, you can safely do more of what seems like a distant memory: Put your mask away for many activities and even attend crowded events with your mask on.

Here’s a roundup of the latest Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) guidance on what you can do safely without a mask once fully vaccinated. Being fully vaccinated means it’s been more than two weeks since the second Pfizer or Moderna shot or two weeks after one of the single-shot vaccines.

• Walk, run or bike outdoors with members of your household.
• Attend small, outdoor gatherings with family and friends, whether they are fully vaccinated or not. Those who aren’t fully vaccinated should wear masks.
• Eat outdoors at a restaurant with friends from multiple households — any of them who aren’t vaccinated are less safe even with masks on.

If you’re fully vaccinated and wearing a mask, according to the CDC it’s OK to attend a crowded outdoor event like a live performance, a parade or sporting event.

Other safety guidelines such as wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart in large, indoor public spaces like shopping malls and movie theaters are still in place, whether you are vaccinated or not.

Extensive testing and use of the vaccines have shown them to be safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness from the coronavirus.

The effectiveness of the vaccines makes it unlikely that in an outdoor setting enough of the virus could get past the protection to cause infection. Also, evidence suggests that vaccinated people may be less likely to spread the virus, though data is still being collected.