I received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. What can I do now?

With around 5% of Americans having received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, many are wondering: what activities are safe? Some experts intervene.

Can I organize a dinner? Yes, but…

It would be safer to wait until everyone gathered is vaccinated, health experts say. Currently approved vaccines both require two shots to work most efficiently, and full protection may not come before a week or two later the second dose.

Although scientists are convinced that the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are 94% to 95% effective in preventing clinically recognizable disease, they do not yet know whether those vaccinated can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. .

“We don’t know yet if [the vaccine] prevents asymptomatic infection, “said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease specialist, as part of the”LA Times today»Regarding the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. “So it’s conceivable and theoretically possible that you might be infected, but because you’re vaccinated you don’t get sick. In other words, the vaccine works, but it does not protect you from infection. ”

Share a hug? Yes.

It “means you may have a virus in your nasopharynx that you could spread. And theoretically, you could infect someone else, ”Fauci said. “And that’s the reason we say, until we get the answer – and we’ll get the answer to that question, hopefully in the next few months – but we tell people that even if you get vaccinated , you should wear a mask, as you may be spreading a virus that could infect others.

But Fauci also said that if the two sides had been vaccinated, they would be able to kiss.

“Can I sit down and give them a hug?” Fauci said last week in an interview on MSNBC, echoing a question about the interaction between vaccinated family members who do not live together. “The answer is very likely: ‘Of course you can’. “

But it is not clear whether, for example, a vaccinated grandparent visiting unvaccinated children and grandchildren could be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus and pass it on to family members, especially if they are not masked. .

“You have to be careful because grandmother could still catch the virus in her nasopharynx, even if the vaccine keeps her from getting physically sick,” Fauci recently told NBC.Today“Show.” This is why we say, until the overwhelming majority of people get vaccinated and the virus level is very low, [even] when you are vaccinated… it would be safe to wear a mask.

Dine inside in a restaurant? No.

On Monday, Fauci said in a briefing that federal officials were making recommendations on what vaccinated people can do. But there are some activities that even those who are fully vaccinated should avoid because the virus is still so prevalent, Fauci said, such as eating in restaurants and going to the movies.

“We are still at an unacceptable baseline level” of illness, Fauci said.

Quarantine if you are exposed? No.

But those who received both doses of the vaccine no longer need to self-quarantine if exposed to someone infected with the coronavirus, said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the state Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. United, during the briefing on Monday.

Join a gathering? Yes, but …

Other experts have also weighed in on what life can be like after vaccination. Dr Monica Gandhi, Professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco and Medical Director of the HIV Clinic at Zuckerberg General Hospital in San Francisco, mentionned at a campus forum, she believes fully vaccinated people can be free to mingle with each other, like at a party, without restrictions.

But when the vaccinated people are around those who haven’t received their vaccines, everyone should keep their masks on, Gandhi said. “Let’s keep it safe and keep our masks around the unvaccinated,” she says.

Although some outside the federal government are already voicing opinions on what is considered safe, Andy Slavitt, a senior advisor to the White House COVID-19 response team, said during the briefing as “this is part of the speech … it is not. that we’re going to jump too fast.

In counties in California that are in the most restrictive level, or purple, gatherings can be held, but they can include members of no more than three households, must be outside, and people from different households must be at least six feet from each other. People should be masked unless they are actively eating or drinking.

Indoor rallies can be held in counties on the least restrictive levels – red, orange and yellow – but officials are strongly insisting that they take place outdoors.

Continue to hide? Yes.

Experts have also suggested masks should continue to be worn and say N95 and KN95 the masks offer superior protection.

KN95 masks – built according to a Chinese design – filters up to 95% of particles in the air. They may be preferable for those who need to be in close contact with people who do not live in the same household or for people at increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19, according to the CDC. The CDC website offers tips on what to look for when purchasing a KN95 mask.

The CDC, however, points out that such masks often require more effort to breathe and can be more expensive and difficult to obtain. Poor quality is also a problem; at least 60% of KN95s assessed by the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health does not meet the requirements their makers pretended to meet.

A KF94 mask – built in a South Korean design 94% efficient – is a good alternative to an N95 mask, according to one Tweeter by Joseph Allen, Assistant Professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Allen said in various interviews that the KF94s are comfortable and are small to medium in size, a benefit for people who find the N95 masks to be too large and do not provide a tight fit, making them ineffective.

However, for all talk about the N95, KN95 and KF94 masks, Walensky said the agency does not recommend the routine use of N95 masks for protection against the coronavirus by the general public.

“Abundant scientific laboratory data, epidemiological investigations and large-scale population-level analyzes demonstrate that the masks now available to the general public are effective and work,” Walensky said in a recent briefing. “And there is little evidence that, when worn correctly, properly fitting medical fabric masks fail to transmit disease.”

CDC has suggested people wear masks that have two or more layers of washable and breathable fabric; completely cover the nose and mouth; fits perfectly to the sides of the face and has no gaps; and have a nasal thread to prevent air from escaping from the top. The agency cautions against choosing fabric masks that make it difficult to breathe, such as vinyl, or that have exhalation valves that allow viral particles to escape.

Make a even more effective common mask, experts suggest putting on a paper mask – like a common blue surgical mask – and then covering it with a tight-fitting cloth mask. The second mask will cover the spaces that can occur with a paper mask.

Using a loose medical procedure mask or just a cloth mask was found to block only about 40% of particles from a simulated cough during testing. But tighter masks have the potential to reduce exposure to potentially infectious particles by more than 90%, the CDC said.

Keep your guard? Yes.

Another good masking strategy is to buy cloth masks with a replaceable filter, Said Gandhi.

Indoor visits, such as trips to the grocery store, may require double masking or wearing a cloth mask with a replaceable filter to reduce transmission of the virus, Gandhi said. But if you’re outside in public, a simple cloth mask or surgical mask is sufficient, and no mask is needed if you’re alone, she said.

But the bottom line, said Walensky of the CDC, is: “Masks work and they work best when they are properly fitted and worn correctly. … Masks should be used in combination with other preventive measures to provide you and your community with the best protection against COVID-19: stay at least six feet away from other people you are not familiar with. don’t live, avoid crowds and travel and wash your hands often. “