Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can gather without masks or social distancing, new CDC guidelines say

 Fully-vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed on Monday. 

The long-awaited guidelines gives the U.S. a sneak-peek of what the new normal will look like in the next few months. 

The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can visit unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe illness such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy young children and grandchildren.

The guidance is designed to address a growing demand, as more adults have been getting vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world last year.

However, the agency still recommends that Americans avoid travel, even if they are fully vaccinated.

About 30.7 million Americans - or only about 9.2 percent of the U.S. population - have been fully vaccinated with a federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine so far, according to the CDC. 

Officials say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine, either two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shot or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson jab.

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Fully-vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to new CDC guidelines released on Monday. Pictured: People stand in line at the mass vaccination site at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, February 5

'We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,' said CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky, in a statement.

'There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in their own homes. Everyone - even those who are vaccinated – should continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings.   

'As the science evolves and more people get vaccinated, we will continue to provide more guidance to help fully vaccinated people safely resume more activities.' 

During a press briefing Monday, she called the guidance a “first step” toward restoring normalcy in how people come together.

Walensky said more activities would be rubber-stamped for vaccinated individuals once caseloads and deaths decline, more Americans are vaccinated, and as more science emerges on the ability of those who have been vaccinated to get and spread the virus. 

The CDC says more and more studies suggest fully vaccinated people are less likely to spread COVID-19 to others.

However, the agency is continuing to recommend that fully vaccinated people continue to wear well-fitted masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when out in public. 

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People who have received two shots of Moderna or Pfizer or one shot of J&J can meet with other vaccinated people indoors without a mask or social distancing. Pictured:  A senior celebrates after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Lawrence, New York, February 2021

The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

Authorized vaccine doses first became available in December, and they were products that required two doses spaced weeks apart.

But since January, a small but growing number of Americans have been fully vaccinated, and have been asking questions like: Do I still have to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?

Health officials initially expected the guidelines to be released last week.

However, on Friday, Walensky said she and other CDC administrators were still in the process of reviewing the recommendations to make sure they were clear.

'I'm disappointed this was not done sooner,' Dr Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco told The Washington Post.

The CDC hopes that relaxing guidelines will encourage more people who are on the fence about vaccinating to receive the dose. 

'[This] may help improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake,' the guidelines state. 

'Therefore, there are several activities that fully vaccinated people can resume now, at low risk to themselves, while being mindful of the potential risk of transmitting the virus to others.' 

The White House recently released a statement shortly thereafter stating it was not involved in developing the CDC guidelines.

Although the guidelines do not explicitly mention hugging or kissing, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, recently said it's 'very likely' safe for vaccinated family members to hug each other. 

'If you're vaccinated and you have a member of your family vaccinated - someone [who] has not lived with you-- can you actually be with them without a mask? Can I sit down and give them a hug and things like that? And the answer is very likely, of course, you can,' he told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. 

'But if only 10 percent of the society is vaccinated, you're not going to be able to go to a restaurant or to go to a theater because it's not going to be opening.

'So, that's the reason why...you've got to separate it from what you can do in a certain vacuum versus what you can do in society.'