I’ve Been Vaccinated! Now What?

By Dr. Henning Ansorg, M.D., FACPHealth Officer County of Santa Barbara, Department of Public Health

If you’ve been vaccinated, congratulations! If you are still awaiting your turn to be vaccinated, thank you for your patience. You can learn more about vaccinations in Santa Barbara County, including how to sign up to receive your vaccine, by visiting the County’s vaccine information website at: https://publichealthsbc.org/vaccine/.

You are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 approximately two weeks after receiving your second dose in a two-dose series, such as with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. If you received the Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen, you are considered fully vaccinated approximately two weeks after receiving your single-dose vaccine. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, (CDC), those who are fully vaccinated may:

  • Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
  • Visit with unvaccinated people (including children) from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
  • Participate in outdoor activities and recreation without a mask, except in certain crowded settings and venues
  • Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel
  • Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States
  • Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
  • Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
  • Refrain from routine screening testing if asymptomatic and feasible

Even if you are fully vaccinated, remember that not everyone else is, so you should continue to:

  • Take precautions in indoor public settings like wearing a well-fitted mask
  • Wear well-fitted masks when visiting indoors with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
  • Wear well-fitted masks when visiting indoors with unvaccinated people from multiple households
  • Avoid indoor large-sized in-person gatherings
  • Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
  • Follow guidance issued by individual employers
  • Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

There is also information on the CDC website regarding large events and gatherings and domestic travel.

For more information about local public health orders, guidance, and vaccine distribution in Santa Barbara County, please visit: https://publichealthsbc.org/.

This article has been updated with the most recent information from the CDC.