You have been completely vaccinated against the coronavirus – what now? Do not expect to throw off your mask and return to normal activities immediately.
This is going to be a disappointment to many people, if not a shock.
In Miami, 81-year-old Noemi Caraballo received her second dose on Tuesday and is looking forward to seeing friends, resuming fitness classes and messages after nearly a year of extreme caution, even ordering groceries online.
“Her line is, ‘I’m tired of talking to cats and parrots,’ ‘her daughter Susan Caraballo said.’ She wants to do things and talk to people. ‘
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet changed its guidelines: People should at least for the time being follow the same rules as everyone else about wearing a mask, to keep a distance of 6 feet and to avoid crowds – even after receiving their second dose of vaccine.
Vaccines used so far require two doses, and experts especially say that you should not watch after the first dose.
“You are asking a very logical question,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading American expert in infectious diseases, responded when a 91-year-old woman in California recently asked if she and her vaccinated friends could resume their mah-jongg games.
In the webcast exchange, Fauci was only able to point to the CDC’s recommendations, which so far are mothers on vaccine exceptions to get together. “Wait,” he told the woman, saying he would expect updates to the guidelines as more people get the coveted recordings.
What experts also need to learn: The vaccines are very effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, especially serious illness and death – but no-one still knows how well it blocks the spread of the coronavirus.
It is wonderful if the vaccine means that someone who has otherwise been admitted to the hospital has only the sniff or even no symptoms. But ‘the looming question’, Fauci said during a coronavirus response in the White House last week, is whether someone who has been infected despite being vaccinated can still unknowingly infect someone else.
Studies are underway to find out, and tips are starting to emerge. Fauci pointed to recent research from Spain showing that the more coronavirus nests an infected person – called the virus load – the more contagious. This is not surprising as it is true with other diseases.
Some preliminary findings from Israel have suggested that people infected after the first vaccine dose are only partially protected, have smaller viral loads than people who have not been vaccinated. It is encouraging if the findings remain. Israel has vaccinated a large portion of its population and scientists worldwide are watching how the outbreak responds as the vaccination increases.
It is also critical to detect whether the vaccines are protected against new, mutated versions of the virus that are spreading rapidly in some countries, said Dr. Walter Orenstein, an expert in infectious diseases at Emory University, added. He has been vaccinated and follows the CDC guidelines carefully.
There are practical reasons. “It’s hard to know who’s vaccinated and who’s not, if you just walk around the grocery store,” noted E. John Wherry, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
And experts like Wherry are repeatedly asked: Yes, there are rules to be in public, but what is safe for grandma to do at home, with family or close friends, after she has been vaccinated?
Not everyone’s immune system is promoted equally by vaccines – so someone with cancer or debilitated elderly may not get as much protection as a robust 70-year-old.
But most people need to “feel more confident about, for example, shopping or going to see your grandchildren, or giving your daughter a hug,” Wherry said.
This is because the chance of a person being fully vaccinated becomes seriously ill, even though it is not zero.
“Friends who come for dinner, we should still try to follow the guidelines,” Wherry added. “You never know who was compromised, where the vaccine might not work so well.”
What if the fully vaccinated person is exposed to someone who is infected? The CDC recently eased the rules: no quarantine, as long as the person vaccinated shows no symptoms and it is at least two weeks, but no longer than three months since the second dose.
Do you get on a plane? Vaccinated or not, the CDC still insists on essential travel.
International travel is an even more difficult prospect. Expect countries that already have different quarantine and testing requirements to come up with different guidelines after vaccination – especially as several types of vaccinations, some of which are better proven than others, are used around the world. There is also concern about carrying the worrying mutations from one country to another.
Stay informed of the advice as more people are vaccinated. Meanwhile, do not underestimate how important it is for vaccinated people to feel less anxious when doing assignments or going to work while still following public health measures, said Dr Luciana Borio, a former scientist from the Food and Drug Administration.
Even with a trip to the grocery store, ‘there was always this anxiety about’ Was this the contact that would infect me? ‘, Borio said. “It’s a very powerful change in one’s life situation.”
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Associated Press reporter Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.
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