Are you completely vaccinated against coronavirus – now what? Do not expect to shed your mask and return to normal activities immediately.
It will be a disappointment, if not a shock, to many people.
In Miami, 81-year-old Noemi Caraballo received her second dose on Tuesday and is looking forward to seeing friends, resuming fitness classes and making errands after nearly a year of being extremely cautious, even when ordering food online.
“Her line is, ‘I’m tired of talking to cats and parrots,'” said her daughter Susan Caraballo. “He wants to do things and talk to people.”
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet changed its guidelines: at least for now, people should follow the same rules as everyone else about wearing a mask, keeping a 6-foot distance, and avoiding congestion – even after they have they received the second dose of vaccine.
The vaccines used so far require two doses, and experts say that especially do not let your guard down after the first dose.
“Ask a very logical question,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, when a 91-year-old California woman recently asked if she and her vaccinated friends could resume their games. de mah-jongg.
In that exchange of Internet broadcasts, Fauci could only indicate the recommendations of the CDC, which so far are the mother on the exceptions for the gathering of vaccinated people. “Wait,” she told the woman, saying she expects guidelines to be updated as more people receive the coveted photos.
What experts need to learn: Vaccines are extremely effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, especially severe illness and death – but no one still knows how well it blocks the spread of coronavirus.
It’s great if the vaccine means that someone who would otherwise have been hospitalized has only sniffles or even no symptoms. But the “upcoming question,” Fauci said during a White House coronavirus response briefing last week, is whether an infected person despite vaccination can inadvertently infect someone else.
Studies are underway to find out and clues are beginning to appear. Fauci highlighted recent research in Spain that the more coronavirus is harbored by an infected person – the so-called viral load – the more infectious they are. This is not surprising, as it is true for other diseases.
Some preliminary findings from Israel have suggested that people infected after the first dose of vaccine, when only partially protected, have lower viral loads than unvaccinated people who have become infected. It is encouraging if the findings persist. Israel has vaccinated a large part of its population, and scientists around the world are watching how the outbreak reacts as these vaccinations increase.
It is also crucial to see if vaccines protect against new mutant versions of the virus that are spreading rapidly in some countries, added Dr. Walter Orenstein, an infectious disease expert at Emory University. He was vaccinated and scrupulously followed CDC instructions.
There are practical reasons. “It’s hard to tell who was vaccinated and who wasn’t, if you just walk through the grocery store,” said immunologist E. John Wherry of the University of Pennsylvania.
And experts like Wherry are repeatedly asked: Yes, there are rules for being in public, but what can grandma do at home, with family or close friends after she has been vaccinated?
Not everyone’s immune system is equally stimulated by vaccines – so someone with cancer or frail seniors may not receive as much protection as a robust 70-something.
But most people should feel “more confident shopping, for example, or see their grandchildren or hug their daughter,” said Wherry.
This is because the chances of a completely vaccinated person becoming seriously ill, even if they are not zero, are low.
“Friends who come to dinner, we should continue to try to follow the guidelines,” Wherry added. “You never know who is compromised, where the vaccine may not work as well.”
What happens if those who are completely vaccinated are exposed to an infected person? The CDC has recently eased these rules: no quarantine as long as the vaccinated person has no symptoms and at least two weeks have passed, but no more than three months after the second dose.
Are you getting on a plane?
Vaccinated or not, the CDC still requires essential travel.
International travel is an even tougher prospect. Expect countries that already have different quarantine requirements and tests to come up with variable guidelines after vaccination – especially since several types of vaccines, some better proven than others, are used around the world. There is also concern about transporting those worrying mutations from one country to another.
Stay up to date with advice updates as more people get vaccinated. In the meantime, don’t underestimate how important it is for vaccinated people to feel less anxious while committing or going to work while continuing public health measures, said Dr. Luciana Borio, a former Food Administration scientist and Drugs.
Even with a trip to the grocery store, “there has always been this anxiety about“ Was it the contact that would infect me? ”Said Borio. “This is a very strong change in someone’s living situation.”