Older adults are one of the priority groups for vaccination. After health care workers and nursing home residents were vaccinated, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said individuals aged 75 and older – along with other categories of essential workers – were next to get vaccinated. In an increasing number of countries, seniors are already being vaccinated or will be vaccinated soon.
What happens if older adults are vaccinated but their children and grandchildren do not? Can grandparents now be safe with family, or are there still certain precautions they need to take? We met with CNN’s medical analyst, dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, asked for guidance.
CNN: Let’s start with timing. When does the vaccine protect you after you have been vaccinated? How much protection does it offer??
After the second dose, it will probably take another two or three weeks to develop the optimal level of immune protection.
Suppose you received a dose of vaccine. After a week or two, you have some immunity, but you can definitely get Covid-19 if you are exposed to the coronavirus. A few weeks after the second dose, studies have shown that the effectiveness of the vaccine is about 95%. This is a very high level of protection, but it is not 100%. You can therefore still get Covid-19 after receiving both doses of the vaccine, but your chances are much lower. And if you did get it, you would probably have less serious illness according to the clinical trials if you did not get the vaccine.
CNN: If an older adult received the second dose, and that’s three weeks ago, can they visit their grandchildren?
Win: Can be. The answer is not as simple as saying that someone who has been vaccinated can return to pre-pandemic life. Here’s why.
First, the vaccine is not 100% effective. There is still a chance that someone who received the vaccine could get Covid-19. This is especially true because many parts of the country are experiencing significant infections. The spread rate of the community is very high, so there will still be a chance of getting coronavirus even after you have been vaccinated.
Second, the vaccine has not yet been shown to reduce the transmission of the virus. We do not know if people who are vaccinated can still be carriers of the virus, even if they do not get sick. This means that you can be protected yourself if you are exposed to someone with coronavirus, but that you can still be the carrier of the virus. If you get along with your loved ones, you can spread it to those who are not vaccinated.
If your grandchildren live in the area, you can see them safely at a distance of 6 meters. If you want to see them indoors, there is some risk. The risk would be much lower if you were not vaccinated, but the risk will still be there. And you could still pose a risk to the unvaccinated members of your family, as you could be an asymptomatic carrier transmitting to them.
If you really want to spend time with the grandchildren indoors, it’s still the best way to put everyone in quarantine for at least ten days and lower their risk during those ten days. Quarantine for seven days and a negative test is also an option, but everyone must also do the quarantine – a negative test alone is not enough.
CNN: What’s the point of the vaccine if I still have to quarantine before I see people?
Win: From what we know so far through clinical trials, the vaccine offers a lot of protection. It will also give you peace of mind. This reduces your chance of getting the virus and becoming seriously ill. We know that the elderly and chronic medical conditions have a much increased risk of serious illness and death, and the vaccine will significantly reduce these outcomes.
Because you greatly reduce the risk as a result of the vaccination, it is a personal judgment about the activities you value most and may consider bringing back. Perhaps it is very important for you to embrace your grandchildren. If you do, you must realize that it is not a risk to you or to them. It is still best for everyone to wear masks while cuddling, and to do so outdoors and ideally faces that are turned away from each other.
Maybe it’s very important for you to eat together. I would still recommend different plates, no buffet meal, and to eat outside rather than inside.
If you live away from your grandchildren, you may want to consider going to see if this is something very important to you. Of course, stick to all the social distancing and masking rules. And know that you still carry the risk of contracting the virus as well as transmitting the virus.
Please remember that the risk picks up. Getting the vaccine reduces your overall risk, but that does not mean you have to do every high-risk activity right now. Maybe you now choose to have dinner with your grandchildren and embrace them. Also, do not decide that you should go to an indoor restaurant with your friends and go to a busy movie theater. You should still try to reduce the risk in your life as much as possible.
CNN: What if I also have friends who got the vaccine? Can I see it indoors without my mask?
Win: It’s probably pretty safe to see others who have also been vaccinated, after everyone has received both doses and waited a few weeks.
In a way, you can see that you are getting the vaccine as in quarantine. If both parties were in quarantine, it’s probably pretty low to see each other safely. In the same way, if both parties have received the vaccine, you can probably see each other relatively safely. But because we do not know if vaccinated people can still be asymptomatic carriers, you can infect others with whom you have close contact and who have not been vaccinated if you engage in risky behaviors.
Suppose you live with people who have not yet been vaccinated. You do not want to participate in activities where you could possibly get coronavirus and then transmit it to others. This includes seeing other people who have been vaccinated but are not wearing a mask – based on what we now know, they may have the virus and pass it on to you, and you may have it to the people you live with , transfer. An abundance of caution is still a good idea.
CNN: What are we going to take to be able to socialize like before Covid-19?
Win: The end of Covid-19 may come as soon as we get herd immunity. We do not know exactly how many people will need immunity to get here, although experts like dr. Anthony Fauci estimates that it can take up to 85% of the American population to be vaccinated. At the level of immunity in the community, coronavirus could not spread anywhere else and could in fact become extinct.
With the speed of vaccine deployment so far, it will take a while to get anywhere near this level. Clinical trials on children have also just begun, so it will probably take until summer or autumn before children are vaccinated.
We need to frame to be vaccinated differently. Vaccination is not a “do what I want” but rather a tool to reduce our risk. Wearing a mask is also such a tool, just like social distance, and we want to continue to use as many tools as possible to protect ourselves.
Getting the vaccine can help our community achieve herd immunity faster. And it also gives us the license to do a few more things that we enjoy – though we should still try to keep it as safe as possible.
CNN: When will your kids see their grandparents?
Win: We plan to visit my father with us from Vancouver, Canada, in the summer or early fall of 2021. My husband’s mother is in Johannesburg, South Africa. We hope to visit her for Christmas 2021 when everyone is vaccinated by December. They have not seen my 3-year-old for over a year, and this will be the first time they have met the baby – who is now 9 months old. We can not wait – although in the meantime we will be patient and stay safe!