The U.S. residents who are already been fully vaccinated still have many questions about what they can and can't do.

Dr. William Schaffner has been one of the leading national experts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and told CNN his phone has been ringing off the hook as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to soon publish guidelines for the fully vaccinated.

"I try to answer as many of those questions as I possibly can, because these are very thoughtful people," Dr. Schaffner said. "These are the people who are trying to do the best in these circumstances."

More than 82 million vaccine doses have already been administered in the United States and many who have followed strict guidelines of social distancing for the past yeawant to know when they'll be able to once again share close interactions with their loved ones.

"I think people need practical advice about how to go about their everyday lives," said Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard, via CNN. "I think without guidance, people may make decisions that are not informed."

The Biden administration said it's continued to work on these guidelines for several weeks, which are still in the works, an official involved with the drafting process confirmed to CNN.

The official said a draft of the new guidelines is likely to have been sent to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services first so staff would know of it prior to it being published.

Experts believe the CDC will face a difficult task in balancing the guidelines, which need to encourage people to get vaccinated, help those that have done so understand that they still need to be careful and manage expectations of the unvaccinated all at once.

More than 64,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States on Thursday (March 4.)

The guidelines aren't expected to give the vaccinated approval to do things they way they did prior to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but will likely offer some hope that social isolation is nearing an end.

The guidelines could allow you to be reunited with your vaccinated friends in person, but will likely still recommend social interactions be limited to small home gatherings with other fully vaccinated people.

The guidelines are also expected the advise the vaccinated to continue wearing masks in public and keeping a good distance from strangers.

"While we're still vaccinating everyone, our primary societal goal remains to protect the unvaccinated," said Dr. Aaron Richterman via CNN.

The guidelines are also expected to help the vaccine navigate how to interact with loved ones at their nursing homes, who have been kept locked inside for the past year, as well as travel advice.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a CNN 'Global Town Hall' last month that the vaccination is not a "free pass to travel" and said that although "essential" travel is fine, "we don't want people to think because they got vaccinated, then other public health recommendations just don't apply."

Photo: Getty Images

Andy Woods

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