Clarification of CDC Guidance

 

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout this academic year, with each challenge that COVID-19 has brought to Oregon schools, educators, families, and communities have demonstrated their strength. Doors to Oregon schools have remained open with students learning in-person. Thank you for your tireless efforts.  

This message contains clarifying guidance for Oregon K–12 schools from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) related to:  

• What it means to be “Up to date” for COVID-19 vaccinations 
• Shortened quarantine and isolation guidance  
• Test to stay updates including launch of the home testing option within the test to stay protocol 
• Expansion of Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose eligibility to 12 to 15-year-olds 

On January 6, the CDC released guidance for COVID-19 prevention in K–12 schools. The update incorporates CDC’s December 27, 2021 update to quarantine and isolation recommendations for people exposed to or ill with COVID-19. Key takeaways include:  

 

"Up to Date" Status Definition of COVID-19 Vaccination 

CDC recommends that individuals remain up to date with their vaccines, which includes additional doses for those who are immunocompromised or booster doses at regular time points. Within the K–12 setting, those who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination include: 

• Individuals 18 or older who have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people. 

• Youth 5–17 years who have completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines. 

 

Shortened Quarantine and Isolation Periods for K–12 Settings 

CDC has reduced the recommended time for quarantine and isolation for the general public to five days.  

Quarantine: Students, teachers, and staff who come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination as defined by CDC and individuals who had confirmed COVID-19 (tested positive using a COVID-19 viral test) within the last 90 days do not need to quarantine. These individuals should: 

• Wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of their last close contact with someone with COVID-19 (the date of last close contact is considered day 0) and watch for symptoms of COVID-19.  
• Get tested at least 5 days after having close contact with someone with COVID-19. If they test positive or develop COVID-19 symptoms, they should follow recommendations for isolation.  

Individuals who come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and are not up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination defined by CDC as:  

• Ages 18 years or older and completed the primary series of a two dose recommended vaccine more than 5 months ago but have not received a recommended booster shot. 
• Those who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine (completing the primary series) over 2 months ago and have not received a recommended booster shot. 

• Those who are not fully vaccinated or have not completed a primary vaccine series. 

These individuals should quarantine as follows: 

• Quarantine for at least 5 days after their last close contact with someone with COVID-19. Individuals in quarantine should not go to school or school events in-person during their quarantine period unless they are participating in a school sponsored test-to-stay protocol. 
• Wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of their last close contact with someone with COVID-19 (the date of last close contact is considered day 0) and watch for symptoms of COVID-19.  
• Get tested at least 5 days after having close contact with someone with COVID-19. If they test positive or develop COVID-19 symptoms, they should follow recommendations for isolation.  
• If unable to wear a mask, an individual should complete a 10-day quarantine. 
• If an individual is unable to quarantine, they should wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 10 days. 

Isolation: Students, teachers, and staff who have presumed or confirmed COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate regardless of vaccination status.  

• Individuals can end isolation after 5 full days since symptom onset if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their other symptoms have improved.  

• Day 0 is the day symptoms began or the day the person took a test that had a positive result. Day 1 is the day after symptoms began or, if a person does not have symptoms, the day after the person tested positive (use the date the test was collected). 
• If they continue to have fever or their other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, they should stay in isolation until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their other symptoms have improved. 

• Individuals should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public places for an additional 5 days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of their 5-day isolation. 

For further details visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Overview of COVID-19 quarantine for K–12 Schools, overview of isolation recommendations, and Quarantine and Isolation webpages. 

 

Test to Stay Updates and Launch of At-Home Testing Option 

Following the CDC recommendation of a 5-day quarantine period, the test to stay protocol’s eligibility and testing timeframes have been updated to align. OHA has provided details on these updates here.  

Guidance issued this week reminds us of the variety of tools and resources ready to help us deal with these difficult challenges together.  

• Getting vaccinated can protect students’ access to in-person learning, sports and extracurricular activities. Oregon’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework and CDC guidance states that people who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination and do not have COVID-19 symptoms do not need to quarantine after an exposure to someone with COVID-19. 
• Implementing layered health and safety measures to protect students, staff, and families and support in-person learning. This includes symptom screening and staying home when you have signs of infectious illness, indoor masking, physical distancing, ventilation, handwashing, on-site rapid testing, isolation and quarantine, cohorting, etc. 
• Our close partnership with local and state public health professionals helps us to monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks.