Syracuse, NY – One year after the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans are eager to return to normal life. Two Covid-19 vaccines approved last month promise that we will be able to do this soon.
But it will still be months before anyone who wants a vaccine can get it, and before America achieves “herd immunity”, when many of us have already taken the vaccine or the disease that the virus has a hard time finding new people with. to infect.
So, what happens in the meantime? If you get the two-dose sequence for vaccines, will you be able to resume your longed-for normal life? We spoke with two of the leading infectious disease experts in central New York – Dr. Helen Jacoby of St. Joseph’s Health and Dr. Stephen Thomas of Upstate Medical University – about what the vaccine allows and what does not.
After getting the vaccine, can I remove the mask and stop the social distance?
Do not.
“Until further notice, people need to continue the public health interventions that we try to encourage: practice masking, don’t assemble, and if you’re sick, stay home,” said Thomas, who was the lead investigator for the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be launched. “It won’t be, ‘I have a vaccination voucher on my phone or I have my yellow card, and now I can go around without a mask.'”
That’s because it is not yet known whether vaccinated people can transmit the virus without knowing it, said Jacoby. The main reason for a vaccine is to prevent people from getting sick and overburdening hospitals. Preventing infection at once is a much higher bar and is much more difficult to test.
“We know that currently licensed vaccines are very effective in preventing symptomatic diseases, but what we don’t know for sure is how good they are at preventing asymptomatic infections or their ability to catch the virus, feel good and give it to someone else. person, ”Jacoby said. “We don’t think it’s safe for people who have been vaccinated to act as if Covid never happened.”
Thomas hopes that vaccines will prevent people from spreading the disease, but that remains to be studied.
“I will say that, as these vaccines are supposed to work, it is highly feasible that an effective vaccine can affect one person’s ability to transmit to another,” he said.
How long will we have to keep wearing the mask and distance? It can take months or even 2022. It depends on how quickly people are vaccinated and how vaccines work.
Can I see my grandson after getting the vaccine?
It is a personal judgment, said Jacoby. The two vaccines that have obtained emergency approval are about 95% effective in preventing people from getting sick: it is not a guarantee, but it is a big step forward.
“Visiting that grandchild can become significantly safer,” said Jacoby. “You would be much less likely to get sick if you caught Covid from that grandson. For those personal things, it makes a person’s life safer. “
Can I visit grandpa at the nursing home?
That will ultimately depend on state regulations, individual nursing home policies and the comfort level of families, said Jacoby.
Even when visits are allowed, she said, families should remember that the vaccine will not be as effective for nursing home residents as it is for younger and healthier ones. The Covid-19 vaccine, like flu and other diseases, works by activating the body’s immune system to produce antibodies. Older people have weaker immune systems that are simply not as prolific in producing antibodies.
“The trick, especially in nursing homes, is that the vaccine may not work as well in very elderly people, ”said Jacoby. “We know they work, but it may not be the 95% effectiveness we hear about.”
Will I still have to quarantine if I leave the state or get exposed?
Yes, because, again, health officials still don’t know if you can transmit the virus without knowing it.
“None of the rules have been changed for people who have been vaccinated,” said Jacoby. “At St. Joseph’s we vaccinated a large percentage of our staff, but they are expected to follow the same care as if they had not been vaccinated. They have to wear masks and face shields, they have to distance themselves socially at lunch; if they travel, they must follow the same rules and, if exposed, they must be quarantined ”.
If I already took Covid-19, do I still need the vaccine?
Yes. Thomas said that while Covid-19 has conferred some resistance to the disease, it is not yet clear how strong this resistance is or how long it will last. People who were more sick with Covid-19 had stronger immune responses and may have greater immunity than those who had a mild case of the disease, he said. In addition, there have been reports of people being infected twice.
The vaccine also appears to protect people better than if they had the disease, said Jacoby.
“We think the vaccine offers better immunity than a natural infection,” she said. “People who have had Covid should be immunized.”
Jacoby said that you should wait until you fully recover from the disease, and then get the vaccine in 90 days.
Will the vaccine last a lifetime or will I need one every year?
Covid-19 is only a year old, so it’s too early to know how long the vaccine lasts. It probably won’t be like the measles vaccine, which confers lifelong immunity after a sequence of two childhood vaccines. The Covid-19 vaccine should also not be needed annually, because the coronavirus does not mutate as quickly as the flu virus, Jacoby said. The Covid-19 vaccine may be somewhere in between, like tetanus, she said, which requires a booster injection every 10 years.
“I don’t expect an annual injection, but will we need a backup every two or three years?” she said. “This is something we don’t know at the moment.”
Pfizer is conducting a two-year study of how well the vaccine works, she said, so we will know more at the end of this review.
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