Covid prescription: get the vaccine, wait a month, return to normal

Parts of the new guidelines are absurdly restrictive. The CDC, for example, did not withdraw its advice to avoid air travel after vaccination. A year of experience with pre-vaccine has shown that aircraft are not a source of spread. In a study done for the Department of Defense, it was found that commercial aircraft have HEPA filtration and airflow that exceeds the standards of a hospital’s operating room.

The guidelines do vaccinate people who meet unvaccinated people at low risk – but only with people from the same household and in a small private environment. So much for restaurants, birthday parties and weddings.

An unpublished study conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Health and Pfizer showed that the vaccine reduced transmission by 89% to 94% and prevented hospitalization and death almost completely, according to press reports. Immunity starts about four weeks after the first dose of vaccine, and then you are in fact bulletproof. With the added security of wearing a mask indoors for a few more weeks or months – a practical necessity in public places, even if it’s not medical, because you can not see if someone is immune – there is little that a vaccinated person should be discouraged from doing so.

On a positive note, the CDC did say that people who are vaccinated without symptoms do not need to be tested. But the obvious recommendation must have come two months ago, before so many tests were wasted on people with high levels of antibodies from vaccination.

In its guidance, the CDC says that the risks of infection in vaccinated can not be completely eliminated. Admittedly, we do not have definite data that guarantee vaccination reduces the risk to zero. We never will. We work in the field of medical discretion based on the best available data, as practitioners have always done. The CDC emphasizes the incredible success of the vaccines, but is ridiculously cautious about their implications. Public health officials focus myopics on transmission risk, while ignoring the broader health crisis that results from isolation. The CDC acknowledges potential risks of isolation, but does not provide details.

It’s time to release vaccines to restore their relationships and rebuild their lives. This will encourage vaccination by giving hesitant people a lively incentive to take the shots.

Throughout the pandemic, authorities missed the stamp on precautionary measures. Hospitals blocked family members from being with their loved ones while sniffing for air while strangling on a ventilator tube – which some patients describe as the worst feeling in the world. In addition to the power to hold hands, family members coordinate care and serve as a valuable safety net, a partnership that was much needed when many hospitals had staff shortages. The separation of family members was excessive and cruel, driven by narrow thinking focused on reducing viral transmission risks, despite the damage to human quality.

Since people want to be after their loved ones and rebuild communities, we must not repeat the mistake. We can not exaggerate the threat to public health, as with the rules for hospital visits, and the human spirit continues to be crushed with overly restrictive policies for vaccinated Americans.

Loneliness has become a public health crisis. In pre-Covid times, it was estimated that 20% of Americans struggle with loneliness, a figure that has certainly multiplied faster than research could measure. We were reminded of this last week in a FAIR Health study which revealed that self-harm among children increased to 300% in some parts of the country last year. Future research is likely to find that the damage from isolation is greater than is understood today.

Some experts selectively appeal to common sense when it comes to using discretion. Anthony Fauci said it was ‘common sense’ to wear two masks at the same time. I will also call on ‘common sense’ to answer the big question that many ask: What can I do after being vaccinated? Return to normal after first running once a month.

Dr. Makary is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is chief medical adviser to Sesame Care and author of ‘The Price We Pay’.