Can we stop wearing our masks after we get vaccinated for Covid-19? The short is no.
Just because you got vaccinated doesn’t mean y’all can go out all willy-nilly, according to vaccine developers and vaccine experts. The Associated Press reports that masks and social distancing will still be recommended for some time even after people are vaccinated.
Full coverage from the disease – realistically – won’t happen until a couple of weeks after the second vaccination. ABC News reports that the first coronavirus vaccines will require two shots; Pfizer’s second dose comes three weeks after the first, and Moderna’s comes after four weeks. The vaccines also won’t immediately go into effect.
Right now, there is no information on whether the vaccines will protect people from the virus completely or if it will simply ward off symptoms. That issue could result in vaccinated people still being able to pass the virus on, but at a much lower rate, according to Deborah Fuller, a vaccine expert at the University of Washington.
Distributing and performing vaccinations are expected to take months, ABC News reports. Children’s vaccines will come later, as research and tests are still being done to ensure that kids are safe to receive the injection.
The good news is: Moncef Slaoui, head of the U.S. vaccine development effort, believes the country could be completely immune as early as May, noting the exceptional effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Manufacturers will need to be able to supply enough vaccines to the entire nation for the country to possibly be released from quarantine come May.
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