So you got the COVID vaccine. Do you still have to quarantine?

Pennsylvanians who've completed their COVID-19 vaccines could still be subject to a quarantine period under new state Department of Health guidelines announced Friday.

Under the updated guidance, fully vaccinated individuals will be required to quarantine for 14 days after an exposure to a COVID-19 positive person unless they meet two criteria:

• At least two weeks, and no more than three months, have passed since their final vaccine dose.
• They are asymptomatic since the most recent COVID-19 exposure. 

"This does not mean the vaccine is only effective for three months, but rather that it is unclear how long immunity from vaccine will last," Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said in a press release.

The new guidance applies to the general population, including businesses, schools and some health care settings as a way to alleviate staffing shortages there.

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Fully vaccinated patients and residents in health care settings, including long-term care, should continue to follow standard quarantine protocols for exposure to the virus, Beam said.

Those protocols include using transmission precautions with those patients and residents and limited movement outside their rooms, according to the department.

Long-term care facilities should continue separating positive and exposed residents and using “yellow zones” for quarantine of exposed patients who are fully vaccinated.

However, the guidance doesn’t require vaccinated patients who are discharged to a “non-healthcare setting” to complete their quarantine period at home.

Similarly, fully vaccinated healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19 should not work in a health care setting until after the standard quarantine period, though home quarantine is not required, under the guidance. 

But the guidance also allows health care facilities to allow fully vaccinated workers exposed to COVID to return to work if they are experiencing staffing shortages. 

Nearly 616,000 Pennsylvanians are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Feb. 25, according to the state health department. 

So far, 2.1 million of the 3.1 million vaccine doses Pennsylvania has received have been administered as of Wednesday, according to the state. 

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The new state quarantine guidelines are aligned with what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending for individuals who have completed the two-dose protocol.

The CDC is recommending exposed but fully vaccinated health care workers avoid health care settings because researchers do not know yet how well the vaccine prevents transmission in asymptomatic carriers. 

So, while vaccinated persons may have protection, they may be able to unknowingly spread the virus in health care settings with medically vulnerable or compromised individuals. 

Clinical trials are ongoing to study the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines over time, but no definitive data is available about how long the vaccines protect against the virus, according to the department.  The three month guide aligns with CDC quarantine recommendations for those with natural immunity.

Researchers are also unclear at this point about the vaccine’s effectiveness on new circulating strains of COVID-19. 

In a press release, Beam added that regardless of vaccination status, any one showing new or unemployed COVID-symptoms still must isolate and be tested for the virus.

The department, along with the CDC, continue to discourage any nonessential travel including fully vaccinated people. Travelers should continue to follow quarantine protocols regardless of vaccine status, according to the state. 

Health officials also are continuing to recommend fully vaccinated individuals follow standard COVID-19 prevention measures including physical distancing, face coverings and proper hand hygiene.