The CDC had this to say about who needs post-rabies prophylaxis based on types of exposure (and this was their recommendation BEFORE RFK the lesser took over):
post-exposure prophylaxis should be administered in the following settings:
•To all individuals who have had a bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure from a bat.
•When direct contact with a bat occurred and the individual is unable to rule out a bite or scratch.
•If an individual has been in a room with a bat and is unable to rule out any physical contact. Such individuals include a sleeping person who awakens to find a bat in the room, an unattended child, a mentally disabled person, and an intoxicated person. This approach is consistent with the recommendations of the ACIP for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis
●Post-exposure prophylaxis is not necessary if the person was aware of the bat at all times while in an enclosed or open space and is certain that there was no bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure. Household members who were not in a room with the bat do not require post-exposure prophylaxis.
The state I live in (Wisconsin) has dozens to hundreds of such bat encounters as I just had every day. It’s very rare to give rabies vaccine in such cases, and far, far rarer for a case of rabies to appear in the state. The last four cases of human rabies in Wisconsin occurred in 1959, 2000, 2004, and 2010.
And here are a few of my past experiences personally and professionally dealing with potential rabies situations: