Covid vaccine: Can you stop wearing masks? Visit the grandkids? Avoid quarantine? Questions answered – syracuse.com

January 21, 2021

Syracuse, N.Y. A year into the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are eager to get back to normal life. A pair of Covid-19 vaccines approved last month hold promise that we might be able to do that soon.

But it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one, and before America achieves herd immunity, when enough of us have had the vaccine or the disease that the virus has a hard time finding new people to infect.

So what happens in the meantime? If you get the two-shot sequence for the vaccines, can you resume that longed-for normal life? We talked with two of Central New Yorks leading infectious disease experts Dr. Helen Jacoby at St. Josephs Health and Dr. Stephen Thomas at Upstate Medical University about what the vaccine will let you do, and what it wont.

Once I get the vaccine, can I take off my mask and stop social distancing?

No.

Until further notice, people need to continue the public health interventions that we try to encourage: practice masking, do not gather and, if youre sick, stay home, said Thomas, who was the lead investigator for the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be released. Its not going to be, I have proof of vaccination on my phone or Ive got my yellow card, and I can now go around without a mask.

Thats because its still unknown if vaccinated people can transmit the virus without knowing it, Jacoby said. The principal reason for a vaccine is to keep people from getting sick, and from overwhelming hospitals. Preventing infection outright is a much higher bar, and is much harder to test for.

We know that the vaccines currently licensed are very effective at preventing symptomatic disease, but what we dont know for sure is how good they are at preventing asymptomatic infections or your ability to catch the virus, feel fine and give it to somebody else, Jacoby said. We dont think its safe for people who have been vaccinated to go out and act like Covid never happened.

Thomas is hopeful that the vaccines will prevent people from passing along the illness, but that remains to be studied.

I will say that the way these vaccines are supposed to work, it is highly feasible that an effective vaccine could impact a persons ability to transmit to another person, he said.

How long will we have to keep up the mask-wearing and distancing? It could be months or even well into 2022. That depends on how quickly people get vaccinated and how well vaccines work.

Can I see my grandchild after I get the vaccine?

Thats a personal judgment call, Jacoby said. The two vaccines that have won emergency approval are about 95% effective in keeping people from getting sick: not a guarantee, but a big step forward.

Visiting that grandchild can become significantly safer, Jacoby said. You would be much less likely to get sick if you caught Covid from that grandchild. For those personal things, it does make a persons life safer.

Can I visit grandpa in the nursing home?

That will ultimately depend upon state regulations, individual nursing home policies and the comfort level of families, Jacoby said.

Even when visitors are allowed, she said, families should remember that the vaccine will not be as effective for nursing home residents as it will be for younger, healthier people. The Covid-19 vaccine, like those for flu and other illnesses, works by triggering the bodys immune system to produce antibodies. Older people have weaker immune systems that simply arent as prolific at producing antibodies.

The trick, especially in nursing homes, is that the vaccine may not work quite as well in the very elderly, Jacoby said. We know they work, but it might not the 95% efficacy weve heard about.

Do I still have to quarantine if I go out of state or get exposed?

Yes, because, again, health officials dont know yet if you can pass along the virus without knowing it.

None of the rules have been changed for people who have been vaccinated, Jacoby said. At St. Josephs we have vaccinated a large percentage of our staff, but they are expected to follow the same precautions as if they hadnt been vaccinated. They have to wear masks and face shields, they have to socially distance at lunch; if they travel, they have to follow the same rules, and if theyre exposed, they have to quarantine.

If Ive had Covid-19, do I still need the vaccine?

Yes. Thomas said that while having had Covid-19 gives some resistance to the disease, its not clear yet how strong that resistance is or how long it will last. People who were sicker with Covid-19 had stronger immune responses and might have greater immunity than those who had a mild case of the disease, he said. In addition, there have been reports of people getting infected twice.

The vaccine also appears to protect people better than if theyve had the disease, Jacoby said.

We think the vaccine gives better immunity than a naturally occurring infection, she said. People who have had Covid should get immunized.

Jacoby said you should wait until you completely recover from the illness, then get the vaccine within 90 days.

Will the vaccine last a lifetime, or will I need one every year?

Covid-19 is only a year old, so its too soon to know how long the vaccine lasts. It probably wont be like the measles vaccine, which confers lifetime immunity after a sequence of two shots in childhood. The Covid-19 vaccine is also not likely to be needed annually, because the coronavirus doesnt mutate as rapidly as the flu virus, Jacoby said. The Covid-19 vaccine could fall somewhere in between, like tetanus, she said, which requires a booster shot every 10 years.

I dont anticipate a yearly shot, but are we going to need a booster every two or three years? she said. Thats something we dont know at this point.

Pfizer is conducting a two-year study of how well the vaccine works, she said, so well know more at the end of that review.

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