SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The United States hit a major vaccination milestone Tuesday: Half of all adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest data, that’s 50% of the U.S. population 18 years and older — nearly 130 million adults.
Fully vaccinated means that a person has received both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A person doesn’t have full protection until it’s been two weeks since the final dose, according to the CDC.
Even younger teens are getting there: The CDC reports that 46.8% of people in the U.S. who are at least 12 years and older have been fully vaccinated within a month of Pfizer receiving FDA authorization to vaccinate younger teens.
President Joe Biden previously set a goal of having 70% of all adults receiving at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4. The White House has ramped up its vaccine distribution, and coronavirus cases and deaths have fallen across the nation.
Here’s what the CDC says you can do once you are fully vaccinated:
- You can resume activities that you did before the pandemic.
- You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
- If you travel in the United States, you don’t need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
- You need to pay close attention to the situation at your international destination before traveling outside the U.S.
- You don’t need to get tested before leaving the U.S. unless your destination requires it.
- You still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding an international flight to the U.S.
- You should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
- You don’t need to self-quarantine after arriving in the U.S.
- If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you don’t need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
- However, if you live or work in a correctional or detention facility or a homeless shelter and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still get tested even if you don’t have symptoms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.