Vaccinated Persons Should Be Tested After Exposure, Even If Not

In addition Revises mask guidance on TuesdayThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also quietly updated its testing recommendations for people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The agency is now recommending that vaccinated people be tested for the virus if they come into contact with someone who has Covid-19, even if they don’t have symptoms. Earlier, the healthcare provider had said that fully vaccinated people do not need to be tested unless they experience symptoms after exposure to the virus.

The agency’s director, Dr. “Our updated guidance recommends that vaccinated people get tested when exposed regardless of symptoms,” Rochelle P. Walensky said in an email to The New York Times. “The test is widely available.”

The agency said people who are fully vaccinated should wear masks in public indoors after exposure. They should be tested for the virus after three to five days.

If the results are negative, they may stop wearing masks inside. If the results are positive, the infected person should be isolated at home for 10 days.

The new recommendation came on the day the agency recommended that people fully vaccinated return to wearing masks indoors. under certain conditions. When community transmission levels are high, everyone should wear masks in public, regardless of vaccination status, the agency says now.

The agency also recommended that vaccinated people in close contact with unvaccinated people, including children under 12, consider wearing masks in public indoors, regardless of transmission rates in the local community. In a shift, the agency also recommended universal masking in schools.

The CDC resisted recommending masks for vaccinated people for months, despite the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and the World Health Organization recommending continued wearing of masks.

Dr. Walensky said at a news briefing Tuesday that the change was triggered by new data showing that even vaccinated people infected by Delta can carry large amounts of the virus and infect others.

Vaccines provide strong protection against the worst outcomes, including severe illness, hospitalization and death.

Apoorva Mandavilli contributed to the reporting.