If you are over 65 or have an underlying health condition, it is likely you have found a way to be fully vaccinated by now. These categories describe populations who should have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine first. So if you are fully vaccinated (and that means you are two weeks past your final dosage), what can you do and what can’t you do?
The CDC released some interim guidance on March 8th about what fully vaccinated people can or cannot do. You can visit your unvaccinated children without masks, as long as they are not at risk for serious disease. So, for example, if your daughter or son has severe asthma, you will still want to wear a mask around them. Why? Because this is virus is relatively new, we don’t yet know for sure if vaccinated people might still be able to transmit the virus even if they are asymptomatic. Studies are going on at a feverish rate, so hopefully we will have more information about this in the months to come, but in the meantime, fully vaccinated individuals are still asked to wear a mask around the most vulnerable members of their family and definitely if out in public at restaurants or stores. The mask is to protect you from carriers (because the vaccines are not 100% protective) and protect others from you if you might be a carrier and not know it.
This doesn’t feel like a lot more freedom, but it really is a step forward. For one thing, you can hug a friend or a relative who is not at risk; you can more safely shop for groceries (if you wear a mask), and you can eat outdoors with less risk. These are all opportunities that could be changed if the new variant proves more dangerous than we thought. What you probably do not want to do is to attend a sports or entertainment event with lots of people shouting and talking or get on a plane if you don’t absolutely have to do so. The new variants of the virus are apparently more contagious, so imagine a concert inside where people are chatting and yelling out approval. The virus would linger in the air and six feet distance would mean nothing. (Six feet distance, by the way, is nearly meaningless since the virus doesn’t know measurement! Stay as far away from people you don’t know as you possibly can.)
Air travel is a little more problematic. There have been few examples of transmission on a plane, mainly because most airlines now require mask wearing and the air in a plane is changed every few minutes. Still, the CDC is suggesting you put off air travel unless it is truly urgent. Until we have more data about air travel, the most prudent thing is to avoid it. Can you plan for a summer trip, however? It is beginning to sound like that might be possible, and many airlines have more flexible cancellation policies.
Many congregate care facilities like retirement homes or assisted living facilities are allowing family visitation now, with certain restrictions (e.g. mask wearing in public spaces). If you or your friends reside in one of these places and you are all vaccinated, if they are not allowing visitors, you can challenge their rationale. The facility may still be in outbreak status, which makes outside visitation a risk. But it is your right to ask for answers.
You may feel frustrated that the science is not giving us answers quickly enough. Why do we still not understand why some people get a mild case and others must be hospitalized? Why do different states have different rules? Why do we still have to wash our hands if we are vaccinated? Why can’t scientists better explain what being asymptomatic really means? What does 95% vaccine protection really mean? Why are the new variants more contagious? Some of the answers to these questions are available but bundled up in scientific jargon. For other questions, we simply do not know the answers yet. In the meantime, COVID-19 is nothing to mess with and the cliche “better safe than sorry” has never meant more than it does right now.
This past weekend we were able to invite our daughter and grandson over for lunch in our apartment with appropriate safeguards. We are vaccinated, but they are not. Still the CDC Guidance allowed us to feel we could do this safely. It felt normal. It felt great! It was pure joy to be with them in person. We still worry about family members who have not yet received vaccines, though. It is a frustrating time. Let us know if you have had similar opportunities in the past week or so!