Katsmeow
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2009
- Messages
- 5,308
So, reading the vaccination thread I can see a lot of us have had one or two shots. I had my first one this week. So I thought it might be worth talking about how you plan to handle things particularly during the next few months when most people will not be vaccinated.
My understanding is that fully vaccinated are told to continue to mask and socially distance even after vaccination. I've read two reasons for this:
1. Even if you don't become sick yourself, they do not yet know if the vaccine prevents transmission. It is possible (but not certain) that you might be able to pass on COVID even if you don't become sick. So you mask and distance in order to protect others.
2. There is a chance you could become sick yourself. The biggest risk is the South African variant. It seems that the Moderna vaccine (and I think Pfizer but not sure) is about 50% effective against it so while this variant is currently relatively rare in the US (although present) you could run into it. There is also a possibility that other variants may turn up. Moderna is working on a booster shot to be effective against the South African variant. But I would guess that is several months away. And, of course, the vaccines are not 100% effective. Moderna and Pfizer are about 95% but do seem to -- so far - entirely prevent serious disease.
For me I think I put situations in 3 categories:
1. Being around people for relatively short periods of time for things like shopping or other non-social activities. For these I think I would be entirely comfortable doing them but would mask and distance for the benefit of others. So I might go into a store to look for something that I needed. We want to have a TV mounted on the wall but have held off not wanting people in the house. I think that after I am 2 weeks past my second shot I would be comfortable with these kinds of things. But -- while virus levels are so high in the community I still won't go to indoor restaurants or social events.
2. Being around people who are also fully vaccinated. I mentioned my friend above. Everyone living in her house has had their first shot. Once we are all fully vaccinated, I would feel comfortable for us to have weekly visits in her house without any masking or distancing.
3. Being in close contact with family who is not vaccinated. This is more difficult. I haven't seen my daughter in a year. I haven't seen my son since he moved out 5 months ago. They both work in a retail environment. They were masks and are careful. My son told me that once DH and I are vaccinated he would feel comfortable coming to visit us. He knows DH and I don't go out hardly at all and he feels we are extremely unlikely to pass COVID to him. Right now his worry has been him passing it to us. So he would take the risk of us potentially passing it on to him. Still, I think DH and I would still mask around him at least for the next few months until the virus levels are down.
My understanding is that fully vaccinated are told to continue to mask and socially distance even after vaccination. I've read two reasons for this:
1. Even if you don't become sick yourself, they do not yet know if the vaccine prevents transmission. It is possible (but not certain) that you might be able to pass on COVID even if you don't become sick. So you mask and distance in order to protect others.
2. There is a chance you could become sick yourself. The biggest risk is the South African variant. It seems that the Moderna vaccine (and I think Pfizer but not sure) is about 50% effective against it so while this variant is currently relatively rare in the US (although present) you could run into it. There is also a possibility that other variants may turn up. Moderna is working on a booster shot to be effective against the South African variant. But I would guess that is several months away. And, of course, the vaccines are not 100% effective. Moderna and Pfizer are about 95% but do seem to -- so far - entirely prevent serious disease.
For me I think I put situations in 3 categories:
1. Being around people for relatively short periods of time for things like shopping or other non-social activities. For these I think I would be entirely comfortable doing them but would mask and distance for the benefit of others. So I might go into a store to look for something that I needed. We want to have a TV mounted on the wall but have held off not wanting people in the house. I think that after I am 2 weeks past my second shot I would be comfortable with these kinds of things. But -- while virus levels are so high in the community I still won't go to indoor restaurants or social events.
2. Being around people who are also fully vaccinated. I mentioned my friend above. Everyone living in her house has had their first shot. Once we are all fully vaccinated, I would feel comfortable for us to have weekly visits in her house without any masking or distancing.
3. Being in close contact with family who is not vaccinated. This is more difficult. I haven't seen my daughter in a year. I haven't seen my son since he moved out 5 months ago. They both work in a retail environment. They were masks and are careful. My son told me that once DH and I are vaccinated he would feel comfortable coming to visit us. He knows DH and I don't go out hardly at all and he feels we are extremely unlikely to pass COVID to him. Right now his worry has been him passing it to us. So he would take the risk of us potentially passing it on to him. Still, I think DH and I would still mask around him at least for the next few months until the virus levels are down.
