Since the arrival in mid-December of a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19, there has been a glimmer of hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel of this pandemic. As vaccines arrive in the arms, many vaccinated people are wondering what is safe to do and how to navigate the last few kilometers of the road back to normal.
“First, remember that you are not considered to be fully immune immediately after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Timothy Laird, medical director of the Health First Medical Group in Melbourne, Florida.
There are currently three vaccines authorized for use in the United States:
1. An mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech that is provided through two injections administered 21 days apart.
2. An mRNA vaccine made by Moderna which is provided by means of two injections administered 28 days apart.
3. A viral vector vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson that is supplied through a single injection.
Although these vaccines use two different approaches to achieve immunity, they have all been shown to be safe and effective, and all have excellent success rates in preventing serious illness and death. But getting there takes a little time.
“If you received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, you need to wait two weeks after the second dose before you consider yourself fully vaccinated,” said Laird. “If you get a single dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, you will be considered fully protected two weeks after that dose.”
During that two-week period, your body is working hard to build the antibodies needed to fight the coronavirus if you are exposed to it, says Dr. Niket Sonpal, a gastroenterologist and accredited internist in New York City. “What we are doing is increasing the probability and the concentration of antibodies to help neutralize the virus if you come into contact with it,” he explains.
You will have partial immunity two weeks after the first injection, but “everyone is different and the degree of effect is different. You are creating antibodies right away”, but how protective they are against infection is not well known and can vary from person to person. That is why it is so important to hit the second shot as instructed.
“While you wait for your second dose, and for the next two weeks, you should still follow the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as if you haven’t been vaccinated,” adds Laird.
In other words, keep doing everything that we have done in the past year to prevent the spread: wear a mask, wash your hands and distance yourself socially.
[See: Foods That Can Support Your Immunity.]
What can I do differently after being vaccinated?
However, two weeks after completing the vaccination, there are a few things you can do a little differently. To help people better understand what is safe and what is still potentially dangerous while vaccines are being launched, on March 8, 2021, the CDC released its first set of recommendations on activities that people fully vaccinated against COVID- 19 can resume safely.
CDC guidelines note that if you have been fully vaccinated, you can:
– Meet indoors with other people who are fully vaccinated, without having to wear a mask. The CDC did not specify a size limit for these meetings of fully vaccinated people. “Activities such as a barbecue or a game night with a fully vaccinated group are widely considered to be safe,” said Laird.
– Meet indoors with unvaccinated people from another family, without having to wear a mask. For example, if you are visiting relatives who all live together, you can visit them without a mask, unless any of these individuals are at increased risk of serious illness due to COVID-19.
– If you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to quarantine or get tested, unless you have symptoms or live in a group setting, such as a detention center or nursing home.
These guidelines can seem a little complicated and there are some nuances here. During a March 10 news conference, Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious disease specialist and head of the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, noted that “you must consider individual circumstances.”
Where a person may be less at risk, an older person, immunocompromised or who has recently had chemotherapy, for example, may be at greater risk – even if vaccinated – and needs to be treated with more care.
Poland also said that, in the example of inviting someone to a social gathering at your home, remember that not everyone may be “willing to disclose your private information to you”. Since health information is private, some people may not want to report whether they have been vaccinated or have certain risk factors that may not be obvious, even if it is safer to do so. So keep in mind that you may not know the status of everyone you come into contact with.
In such cases, it is best to assume that individuals are not fully vaccinated and to mask and keep distance.
[READ: Myths About COVID-19 Vaccines.]
What you should keep doing
As the new recommendations have indicated, you can now feel safe when meeting with other fully vaccinated people. But there are many things that have not changed in this new council.
The CDC also recommends taking steps to protect yourself from infection with the new coronavirus and others:
– Wear a mask whenever you are in public.
– Avoid or delay travel. “Traveling on spring break is not a good idea,” said Poland.
– Stay at least 6 feet away from other people outside your home.
– Avoiding crowds.
– Avoid poorly ventilated spaces.
– Avoid meeting indoors with unvaccinated people from more than one household. Wear a mask whenever you come into contact with people whose immunity status you are unsure of.
“His public behavior must remain largely unchanged,” said Laird. “Keep wearing a mask, stay physically distant and avoid large meetings and crowded spaces.”
Poland said that while the new guidelines help to clarify what is safer to do in the context of complete vaccination – that is, 14 days or more after receiving the final injection – “there is no situation where there is no risk”.
These guidelines are “the CDC’s first step towards normality, balancing the value of social interaction and family interactions that many of us have not practiced”. He added that getting immunity through vaccination will not be like pushing a light switch, and suddenly, you can do anything you want. Instead, you must remain vigilant and aware of others.
He also noted that the recommendations are “based on science”, which means that they were developed with the most recent evidence considered. As our understanding of how these vaccines are protective against the new variants that have emerged and other information comes to light, wait for the guidelines to be adjusted accordingly.
It is not yet clear how effective vaccines are against variants. How long the immunity of the vaccines currently available lasts is another open question. These concerns are being investigated carefully.
As scientists learn more about whether vaccines can contain the variants and how long you are covered by current vaccines, you may need to take additional injections, or boosters, to maintain immunity or to fight new strains of the coronavirus. This crisis is still evolving, and while there is much promise for a return to more normal life soon, many public health officials have noted that we will likely be dealing with the consequences in the years to come.
[READ: Should You Be Double-Masking?]
Even fully vaccinated, you can still spread the virus
In addition, it is important to note that even if you are fully vaccinated, “you should still be aware that you can pass the virus on to others,” says Laird. This means that “if you are going to be around someone who is not vaccinated and at high risk of serious symptoms of COVID-19, you should still wear a mask and stay physically distant.”
As for when we can expect things to return to normal, Sonpal says, “in (Anthony) Fauci we trust. He is in control and will know when the right time comes” to lift restrictions and return to life as normal. “Personally, I believe that we will reach that point, but there may still be a certain degree of parameters in place. For example, I think that flights may require masks forever. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
Laird agrees that listening to public health officials is the key to knowing when we can take the next step towards normal life. “After vaccination, just maintain public masking and detachment until public health officials declare transmission at levels low enough to forgo these tactics. Remember, masks and physical detachment allow our economy and communities thrive – and can prevent costly downtime and cancellations. “
Finally, when it’s your turn, get the vaccine. “Any vaccine you can get, you should get it with both hands,” says Sonpal. While I shouldn’t give you a false sense of security, the sooner we all get vaccinated and achieve collective immunity – about 60% to 80% of the inoculated population – the faster we can loosen the additional restrictions.
“The science is clear,” adds Laird. “We have a safe and effective vaccine that was developed by a heroic effort and now we can save the lives of our compatriots and bring our own lives and savings back to normal. Supplies are increasing, so be patient while distribution increases – but when it comes to Get your shot, get vaccinated. All the doctors and scientists I know personally have been vaccinated, including me. Get your vaccination advice from medical and public health experts – not from social media. “