I’m vaccinated. Why do I need a mask?
In this week's edition of the Covid Q&A, we look at the return to mask-wearing in the U.S. In hopes of making this very confusing time just a little less so, each week Bloomberg Prognosis is picking one question sent in by readers and putting it to experts in the field. This week's question comes to us from Jeff in Idaho. Jeff, who is vaccinated, said he feels frustrated about the return to mask-wearing after being vigilant for so long while waiting for a vaccine. Jeff asks:
Do fully vaccinated, healthy adults in the U.S. need to go back to wearing masks?
It’s a safe bet that many of you, like Jeff, are feeling a bit of whiplash these past few weeks. We locked down and masked up while waiting patiently for a vaccine to allow us to resume some semblance of normal life. The vaccines came, we started to emerge from our hibernation and … well, delta hit.
The big problem with conquering an emerging infectious disease is that we’re constantly learning more about it, and in the case of Covid-19, it’s also frequently changing. That means our behavior has to be a bit nimble, too. There’s still lots of study underway, but at this point it appears that delta not only is far more contagious than other versions of the virus, but it also spreads among people who are fully vaccinated in some cases.
“Vaccine immune-boosting capabilities vary by person,” says Bertha Hidalgo of the University of Alabama, Birmingham. “For example, we know that in immunocompromised people, the vaccine may not elicit a strong immune response at least compared to non-immunocompromised individuals.”
Right now, masking up when you’re in crowds or indoor environments isn’t just to protect unvaccinated people. It’s to protect inoculated people for whom the vaccine was perhaps not as effective. And it’s also to protect you.
“The vaccine does not create a magical force field around an individual off of which the virus is repelled,” says Hidalgo.
That’s what moved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend mask-wearing indoors again in areas in which there’s significant transmission of the virus.
The good news is that right now, if you’re vaccinated, you have far more protection than any of us did prior to the vaccine. The vast majority of hospitalizations due to Covid-19 right now are among unvaccinated people. That means the vaccines are still doing their job. (And more and more people are also rushing out to get shots in places hard-hit by the variant.)
“People can still be infected, but with the vaccine the immune system responds so quickly that the person doesn't have a chance to feel sick, or perhaps they feel mildly or moderately sick,” Hidalgo says.
Still, avoiding the hospital doesn’t mean getting Covid is no big deal. And the more the virus circulates the bigger threat it poses to all of us — not just the unvaccinated. So in the face of delta, it’s best we all go back to practicing a bit more caution. —Kristen V. Brown
Thanks to all of you for writing in this week! Next Sunday, we'll be answering the best question we receive again. So if you have any, we want to hear from you. Write to us at CovidQs@bloomberg.net—Kristen V. Brown
Track the virus
Even in countries with a high proportion of people inoculated with highly effective vaccines, it’s unclear whether it’s possible to reach the so-called herd immunity threshold anytime soon. What makes delta the most disruptive variant of Covid-19? The University of Sydney’s professor Christine Jenkins explains.
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I'm Vaccinated. Why Do I Need to Wear a Mask? - Bloomberg
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