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When can I stop wearing a mask?
Save your masks for the foreseeable future. Right now, there are several unknowns that make mask-wearing and social distancing important in protecting the community at large.
First, scientists don’t know how Covid-19 vaccines can protect against asymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (as explained above). There are promising signs – but the research remains incomplete. Researchers are also unsure how long Covid-19 vaccines can protect people from the virus.
Scientists will also closely monitor the impact of evolutionary changes in the virus or its variants on vaccine effectiveness. Researchers have already found that the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was reduced in South Africa, where the B1351 variant is present.
However, the most important factor may be the extent to which eligible adults accept the vaccine. Children are able to spread the disease, but are not eligible for the vaccine; some people may be too immunocompromised to take it; and others may face bureaucratic obstacles to immunization.
What is the point of getting vaccinated if I still have to wear a mask?
Think of mask-wearing and social distancing as a continuum of risk mitigation strategies, which are in place as scientists conduct research, more people are getting vaccinated, and the prevalence of Covid-19 is declining .
For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people can congregate indoors, without masks, with other fully vaccinated people. People are considered “fully immunized” two weeks after receiving their last vaccine. These same people then need to be conscientious about social distancing and wearing a mask in public, as they could potentially transmit the disease into the wider community.
The hope is that as more people are vaccinated, fewer people will have severe cases of Covid-19, and the pressure on the health system will decrease with the prevalence of the disease.
“I hope we can get a majority of the population vaccinated,” said Dr. Bruce Y Lee, professor of health policy at the School of Public Health at the University of the City of New York. “That’s when we can start talking about moving to normal.
When will we have these answers?
Studies on the extent to which vaccines protect against transmission continue and are promising, but incomplete. Vaccines are unlikely to provide complete or “sterilizing” protection. Only a handful of vaccines can make this claim, including for example the smallpox vaccine. However, if a vaccine drastically reduced transmission, that would be great news for the world’s ability to contain the virus.
Under normal circumstances, these types of questions could have been answered in clinical trials of vaccines that lasted for years. In this emergency, stopping the disease was a more important goal, and the vaccines available do this very effectively.
“We would probably know that more and more people are getting vaccinated, somewhere around mid-September,” August said.
But it’s important to note that vaccines don’t necessarily need to provide complete protection to help fight the pandemic. “If everyone is vaccinated, there are fewer viruses,” August said.
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