Slowly, more Americans are getting vaccinated with the covid vaccine but things aren’t back to normal, especially for Black Americans who remain disproportionately affected by the virus in infections and deaths.
The vaccines may make people feel there is no more need for covid precautions such as social distancing and masks but that is not the case.
“A lot of people are thinking that once they get vaccinated, they’re not going to have to wear masks anymore,” Michal Tal, an immunologist at Stanford University, told The New York Times. “It’s really going to be critical for them to know if they have to keep wearing masks, because they could still be contagious.”
Here are five things Black America needs to know about masking up after getting the covid vaccine.
The vaccine is not a miracle shot and those who receive it are not immediately immune. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses administered weeks apart. Depending on the vaccine, it can take four to six weeks from initial dosing to achieve immunity and protection levels comparable to those in clinical trials, ABC News reported. During this time it is still possible to catch the infection and get sick.
Just before Christmas, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that 90 percent of the population may need to be immune in order to stop the coronavirus from spreading, Forbes reported.
Reaching these numbers will not happen overnight and still there is some argument over how many people need to get the covid vaccine for America to reach herd immunity.
The herd immunity threshold for covid-19 is unknown, ABC News reported. Herd immunity happens when enough of the population is exposed to the virus — typically through vaccination — to limit its ability to spread. With measles, 95 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to limit spread. That percentage varies by disease. The herd immunity threshold for covid-19 is not yet known, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medical experts still don’t know how long the vaccine protection will last. You may still be able to get infected after an unknown period.
“The duration of vaccine immunity is unknown. The Food and Drug Administration requires a median two months of safety and efficacy data following completion of the vaccination regimen for emergency use authorization. The length of vaccine coverage is yet to be determined and will be monitored as vaccination campaigns are rolled out,” ABC News reported.
One of the many unknowns about the effects of the vaccine is whether those vaccinated can still give others the virus. It is unclear whether vaccines prevent transmission of covid-19. In their clinical trials, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna did not track cases of asymptomatic infections with covid-19. This means the ability of the vaccine to decrease transmission was never evaluated, ABC News reported.
Experts aren’t sure yet if the nose will be still susceptible to the virus, even in people who have been vaccinated.
“The coronavirus vaccines are injected deep into the muscles and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This appears to be enough protection to keep the vaccinated person from getting ill. But what’s not clear is whether it’s possible for the virus to bloom in the nose — and be sneezed or breathed out to infect others — even as antibodies elsewhere in the body have mobilized to prevent the vaccinated person from getting sick,” The New York Times reported.
A mask will protect your nose.
