On March 21, 2021, this article was updated to reflect the Indiana Department of Health’s (IDH) revised Quarantine Guidance for fully vaccinated long-term care staff, which no longer specifies a three (3) month timeframe regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine. Accordingly, under the revised Quarantine Guidance, the term “fully vaccinated” is no longer limited by a timeframe until more data is available from the CDC.
Under IDH’s Quarantine Guidance, fully vaccinated long-term care staff do not need to quarantine for 14 days if exposed to COVID-19. However, fully vaccinated long-term care residents must still continue to quarantine for 14 days if exposed to COVID-19, although fully vaccinated residents no longer need to quarantine upon admission to a long-term care facility (if they have not been a close contact of a COVID-positive individual in past 14 days).
Fully vaccinated long-term care staff means the following:
- At least two (2) weeks have passed following the receipt of the second dose in a two (2) dose vaccine series (e.g., Pfizer, Moderna), or at least two (2) weeks have passed following the receipt of one (1) dose in a one (1) dose vaccine series (e.g., Johnson and Johnson); and
- Are asymptomatic after the exposure.
Vaccinated staff should still be monitored for symptoms after a known or suspected exposure. Anyone who develops COVID-19 symptoms after an exposure, regardless of vaccine status, should be considered a presumed positive and treated according to IDH guidelines.
Unvaccinated long-term care staff should continue to follow the 14-day quarantine guidance, unless a facility is operating under contingency staffing—then seven (7) to ten (10) day quarantine timelines may be utilized. For a summary on the quarantine guidance for unvaccinated long-term care staff, please click here.
A Return to Work Decision Tree for Health Care Personnel summarizing these changes and outlining the appropriate quarantine timelines based on various circumstances can be found here.