Editor’s Note: The following health guidance was provided by the Iredell County Health Department.
Special to Iredell Free News
COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.
If you don’t meet these requirements, regardless of your age, you are not fully vaccinated. In general, people are considered fully vaccinated:
• two weeks after their second dose, in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
• two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, so keep taking all precautions such as wearing a mask and social distancing until you are fully vaccinated. Also, COVID-19 can have very serious, life-threatening complications and there is no way to know how it will affect you.
Remember, if you get COVID-19 you could spread it to family, friends and community members. If you want a COVID-19 vaccine, we encourage you to get it sooner than later to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Iredell County.
Fully vaccinated individuals can resume activities without wearing a mask or socially distancing, except where required by state laws, rules, and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance.
If you’ve been fully vaccinated:
• You can resume some activities that you did prior to 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 do not 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 United States.
o You do NOT need to get tested before leaving the United States unless your destination requires it.
o You still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding an international flight to the United States.
o You should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
o You do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
• If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
o 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.
For now, if you’ve been fully vaccinated:
• You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace and local businesses.
• If you travel, you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested 3 days before travel by air into the United States (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months)
and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.
• You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
• People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken the immune system, should talk to their healthcare provider to discuss their activities. They may need to keep taking all precautions to prevent COVID-19.
Make an Appointment
If you are not fully vaccinated but would like to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit our website to make an appointment. We are offering the COVID-19 vaccine at our Statesville office Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Thursdays.
♦ Please use the following link to visit https://nc-iredellcounty.civicplus.com/1456/Schedule-an-Appointment
♦ Use the following QR code. Open the camera app on your smart phone and hold it over the QR Code (above). Click on the pop-up message that appears on your screen to visit our website and schedule an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
LEARN MORE
♦ If you have any questions, please call the Iredell County Health Department COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 704-878-5300 and then press 1.
♦ Iredell County Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Information: https://www.co.iredell.nc.us/1455/Vaccine-Information
♦ Additional information related to COVID-19 can be found at the following links:
— Specifics on the COVID-19 vaccine: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/vaccines
— NCDHHS-DPH: www.ncdhhs.gov/covid19
— CDC: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
— Iredell County Health Department: https://nc-iredellcounty.civicplus.com/1383/Coronavirus-COVID-19