How do the new guidelines protect you if you have liver disease? Let’s look at these guidelines and what protective measures you still need to take.

What Does Fully Vaccinated Mean?

You are fully vaccinated if it has been 14 or more days after,

  • Receiving the second shot from Pfizer or Moderna (95% effective)
  • Receiving a single shot from Johnson & Johnson Janssen (66% effective)

Note: If it has been less than 14 days from your vaccine’s second shot, you are not fully protected. You need to continue to take precautionary steps. It is also important to note, no vaccine offers 100% protection. It is important to take into consideration what safety steps you need to take to prevent from contracting COVID.

New CDC Guidelines for Masks & Social Distancing

The CDC states you can make the following changes,

  • You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
  • You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household, for example, visiting relatives who all live together without masks unless any of the people you are visiting or those whom they live with have an increased risk from COVID.

How to Protect Yourself With Liver Disease

  • Check with your doctor and refer to the CDC guidelines if you are around someone who has COVID. It is Life Beyond Hep C’s recommendation that if you have liver disease, or had a liver transplant, be safe and stay away from others you know who have COVID, or those in their household. If you have been exposed to COVID, you need to isolate for 14 days even if you don’t have symptoms and be tested.
  • Even if you have been fully vaccinated. Continue to wear masks and social distance in public and your workplace.
  • Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.
  • Avoid being around others who are sick.
  • Wash hands often.
  • Use hand sanitizer.
  • Delay domestic and international travel. If you must travel, follow CDC guidelines.
  • It is highly recommended that you get vaccinated and wait 14 days before being around others in small groups.
  • Talk to your doctor about your liver and medical condition and being vaccinated.

Get vaccinated. Be proactive. Stay safe. Finish well.

This entry was originally published on Life Beyond Hepatitis C on March 24, 2021 and is reprinted with permission.