Stay Healthy Weekly March 10 2021

Page 1

Weekly

March 2021

others who haven't been vaccinated yet, Anne Rimoin, PhD, MPH, professor of epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, tells us.

"It's already hard to get everyone to follow current masking regulations, and now if you have some people who are vaccinated (and likely, but not certainly, immune from developing COVID-19 "It will take time to widely distribute the symptoms) not needing to adhere to vaccine and achieve herd immunity (and those same regulations, it will wreak that's not guaranteed), so nonadditional havoc on what has already pharmaceutical interventions like mask been an extremely chaotic pandemic wearing and social distancing will conresponse." tinue to be crucial to stopping the spread," explains Rimoin. If many Amer- What We Know So Far icans continue to be hesitant about getThe advice from the Centers for Disease ting the vaccine, there could be a lot of Control and Prevention (CDC) is clear. susceptible people, she adds. RememAccording to the group's guidelines, An effective vaccine is the first big step ber, some people aren't able to get vac"not enough information is currently toward ending the coronavirus pandemcinated, such as those with severe alleravailable to say if or when CDC will stop ic, and that's exactly what's being rolled gic reactions to vaccine ingredients. And recommending that people wear masks out across the US right now. But our some pregnant or breastfeeding women and avoid close contact with others to days of wearing face masks aren't over may choose not to receive the vaccine help prevent the spread of the virus that yet. While both the Pfizer and Moderna until more information is available causes COVID-19." vaccines are more than 90% effective at about the safety of the vaccines in those preventing symptomatic COVID-19, we Per the CDC guidelines, we need to keep groups. still don't know whether they prevent social distancing (by staying six feet Continuing to wear a face mask is also you from spreading the virus to other away from other people), too. The CDC people. That's why experts strongly ad- important because of the new COVID also recommends avoiding crowds and variants that have been identified. Bevise that everyone mask up, and that poorly ventilated spaces, and washing cause they're thought to be more infecincludes anyone who has received the your hands often—even after you've had tious, they can spread more easily to vaccine. your COVID-19 shot. more people if vaccinated people are Both the Pfizer and Moderna trials able to transmit the virus and don't wear So will we ever be able to ditch our tracked only how many vaccinated peomasks? Hopefully, yes—although they a mask, Rimoin warns. ple became sick with COVID-19, meanmight remain a significant part of life for There's another reason to keep masking ing it's completely possible that some some. up even after you've been vaccinated. vaccinated people could subsequently "I think that we have to continue to get infected but not develop any symp- "In our modern society, we don't diswear masks until everyone has had a toms. Those people could then transmit criminate by immune status, and the chance to get vaccinated and we have the virus without being aware of it, and ethics of doing so would be a very slipgotten the virus under control," Tal says. the biggest risk is that they spread it to pery slope," Michal Tal, PhD, an immunologist at Stanford University, tells us. "When community transmission is low


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