It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. The time you are all vaxxed up and ready to rejoin the world--maskless.
In the U.S. Covid vaccination rates are still around 50% of the population. And while the FDA has now authorized vaccination in children as young as 12, it still means we are not close to herd immunity.
So, is it safe to ditch the mask?
“We still want to be mindful of the very small possibility of transmissibility. But in general, if you’re vaccinated, if your friends and family are vaccinated, life should look pretty much normal outside of crowded settings,” Dr. Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine and principal investigator for Moderna and Novavax Phase 3 clinical trials at the Ponce de Leon clinical research site explains in this week’s episode of Track the Vax.
Does that mean it’s safe, if both parties are vaccinated to… shake a hand?
“Absolutely,” Kelley says. Adding when it comes to giving hugs “Please do.”
“There have been several where real world studies, both in the U.S., in Israel, in the U.K. that really show a profound reduction in asymptomatic infection and carriage after vaccination, particularly with the mRNA vaccines,” she told host Serena Marshall. “I would say you can confidently go back to most activities. We still do want to be mindful in crowded spaces, in spaces with poor ventilation indoors.”
In this episode of Track the Vax you’ll also learn:
- The risk of “breakthrough” covid infection.
- Which places you can go in ‘mask-less’ and which you need to remain mindful.
- How that second dose plays into your reduce transmissibility.
Listen along with us on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify, or wherever you listen
