What to do if you are vaccinated and come into contact with a Covid positive

It happened, it can happen. The number of cases of COVID-19 has started to rise again and your colleague or friend or roommate just tested positive. You are vaccinated, though, and in fact you feel good. But what do you have to do now, exactly? What is the procedure to follow?

Meanwhile, some data on the vaccination situation in Italy: 38,077,685 people completed the vaccination course with the second dose 70.50% of the population over 12 (data: report of the extraordinary commissioner for the health emergency updated at 06:10 on 2 September 2021).

Also, in the week from 25 to 31 August 2021, a substantial one was found compared to the previous one stability of new cases (45,134 vs 45,251) and deaths (366 vs 345). The data comes from the independent monitoring of the Gimbe Foundation, which also reports that “the effectiveness of the vaccine from April to today remains stable and above 94% in reducing deaths and severe forms of disease that require hospitalization and hospitalization in intensive care “.

What should I do if I am vaccinated and come into contact with a Covid positive?

Here are the provisions, recommended on a case-by-case basis, implemented by the circular of the Ministry of Health “Update on the recommended quarantine and isolation measures in light of the circulation of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants in Italy and in particular of the spread of the Delta variant”, signed on 11 August 2021.

If you are double-dose vaccinated and have had close contact

Have you completed the vaccination course for at least 14 days, but have come into close contact with a positive? You must be in quarantine for a week from the last contact, then perform a molecular or antigen test. If negative, you can resume social life. If you do not have the opportunity to take the test, a quarantine period of 14 days must be concluded, and then returned to the community even without a negative swab.

If you are double-dose vaccinated and have had low-risk contact

In this case, you do not have to observe the quarantine period, as long as you have completed the vaccination cycle for at least 14 days and comply with all the hygiene and sanitary regulations in place (physical distancing, mask, constant hand sanitation).

It is good to specify what is meant by low risk contact. It happens when:

– The contact with the positive is at a distance of less than 2 meters and for less than 15 minutes
– You are in a closed environment with a positive for less than 15 minutes
– Get in touch with a healthcare professional or someone who provides assistance to a Covid-19 case, or with laboratory personnel who handle samples of Covid-19 cases equipped with personal protective equipment
– You are a passenger or crew member of a flight in which there is a Covid-19 case. From low it becomes high risk, if you are sitting nearby less than two seats away in any direction, you are a travel companion or you are part of the staff assigned to the section of the vehicle in which the case is sitting.

You are not vaccinated or have not completed the vaccination course for at least 14 days

In this case, you must be in quarantine for a period of at least 10 days from the last contact, then perform a molecular or antigen test. If negative, you can resume social life. If you do not have the opportunity to take the test, a quarantine period of 14 days must be concluded, and then returned to the community even without a negative swab.

The swab is positive

If the swab gives a positive result, but you are asymptomatic, you can only resume social life after a 10-day quarantine period plus the negative swab. If, on the other hand, you are symptomatic positive, you can resume social life after a 10-day quarantine with a negative swab carried out after at least 3 days from the disappearance of the symptoms (excluding the absence of taste and smell). After 10 days (from the onset of symptoms for the symptomatic and from the positive swab for the asymptomatic), if still positive, the test must be repeated after a week.

Are you positive in the long run?

In this case, if you have no symptoms for at least a week, you can stop quarantine after 21 days. However, if you are in frequent contact with fragile subjects, a molecular or antigenic test is recommended to definitively exclude the presence of the virus.