How long am I contagious when vaccinated?

[AmandaBeaverhausen]

Just a question, how long am I contagious, as a vaccinated person? I was tested and found Covid positive Friday night. Started experiencing cold-like symptoms Wednesday. Think I was exposed the previous Saturday night at work.

If it's 10 days of quarantine, am I off it on Tuesday? I'm waiting to hear from work, school and I guess the city regarding tracing and other details. Am new to all of this. Any experiences are helpful and appreciated ❤

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

This is from my state's department of health:

How long does isolation last?

If you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and have symptoms, you can end home isolation when:

It’s been at least 24 hours with no fever without using fever-reducing medication AND

Your symptoms have improved,  AND

At least 10 days since symptoms first appeared.

If you test positive for COVID-19, but have not had any symptoms, you can end home isolation when:

At least 10 days have passed since the date of your first positive COVID-19 test, AND

You have had no subsequent illness.

 

Of course, you should follow any recommendation from your place of employment and school. You will likely be contacted by disease investigators for contact tracing purposes. 

Best wishes for a speedy, uneventful recovery. 

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

When I read the title of this thread I said to myself, "Oh, God, another fool who thinks the vaccine will give her COVID and she's gonna be contagious."

Thank you SO MUCH for disabusing me of that notion! You'll be fine.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

Vaccination does not make someone “contagious,” as in, shedding live virus that will make somebody else sick … because vaccination does not introduce live or killed virus into the recipient. It is possible to acquire virus after vaccination and carry it in the nasopharynx and spread it, which is why you should mask even if vaccinated.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

From the current Atlantic:

“Will the vaccines hold? 

The vaccines remain very good at their original purpose: preventing hospitalization and death. But at this point, they aren’t likely to stop all infections. We need to change our expectations for the shots, my colleagues write.

Over time, “protection against infection is always the first to erode,” Katie, ED, and Sarah explain. “Protection against symptoms goes next, but protection against severe disease is the most durable.” Immunity, it’s worth remembering, is a dimmer, not a light switch.

Who will be most at risk? 

That will keep changing. For example, the Spring’s vaccination campaign helped protect older Americans, and “shifted the virus’s burden down to uninoculated children.” Expect the relative risk of specific groups to keep shifting based on that particular moment.

[AmandaBeaverhausen]

Thanks for all the input ?. It was 10 days. One thing I found odd was that they said my boyfriend, who lives with me, did NOT need to quarantine. Said because he was vaccinated he did not need to quarantine. Good thing we ignored that because he ended up testing positive about a week later. So he could've spread it. Scary to think about. I thank god I got vaccinated though, because it was like a light cold, and I only lost my sense of smell and taste for a couple of weeks. Funny though, I'd managed to work in LTC for the first 3 waves of Covid, the first unvaccinated, and never got it as it took down 75% of our staff.