IF YOU ARE FULLY VACCINATED
CDC has updated its guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. See Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People.
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR SCHOOLS
CDC recommends schools continue to use the current COVID-19 prevention strategies for the 2020-2021 school year. Learn more
Important update: Healthcare facilities
CDC has updated select ways to operate healthcare systems effectively in response to COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more
UPDATE
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever. CDC has updated guidance for fully vaccinated people based on new evidence on the Delta variant.
UPDATE
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.

Developing Guidance to Protect the Public’s Health

Developing Guidance to Protect the Public’s Health
Updated July 1, 2020
Español简体中文Tiếng Việt한국어
Other Languages
Print
Related Pages
Search CDC Guidance Documents

CDC offers guidance for businesses, communities, schools, healthcare professionals, laboratories, health departments, workplaces and various industries.

Search Guidance Documents

CDC protects the health of communities across the country. Since the early days of the pandemic, epidemiologists at CDC have been using information from the different types of studies we have discussed to develop evidence-based guidance, such as wearing cloth masks to prevent the spread of the virus. These are meant for various audiences, including:

  • healthcare providers and health departments,
  • laboratory scientists,
  • healthcare and long-term care facilities,
  • schools and businesses,
  • first responders,
  • pregnant people and parents,
  • travelers,
  • homeless shelters, and
  • pet owners.

COVID-19 guidance provides information for these various groups on how to slow the spread of the disease and protect their health. Topics include:

Terms to know

Evidence-based: Based on information from data collected using scientific methods.