Yesterday we celebrated my daughter’s VACCIVERSARY!
It has been two weeks since her second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This means that she is fully vaccinated as of today, and in our house, this is a cause for celebration. We got Slurpees and spent the afternoon swimming. Hurray!
But what does fully vaccinated even mean? What are we celebrating on a vacciversary? And more importantly, how does/should one’s life change after their vacciversary?
Fully vaccinated DEFINED — A person is said to be fully vaccinated two weeks after their second COVID shot (if they received Pfizer or Moderna) or two weeks post their J&J shot. It takes two full weeks for the immune system to respond to and learn from the vaccine; to make antibodies to protect one against COVID-19 infection.
According to the CDC and PA Dept of Health, once a person is fully vaccinated they can — (1) resume normal activities without a mask or worrying about physical distancing, and (2) dodge quarantine if exposed to someone with COVID-19 or have traveled. All three vaccines available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID infection, severe disease, hospitalization, and death. We know from Pfizer that their vaccine is effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death caused by the new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Despite permission from CDC to resume normal activities maskless, after the celebration of my daughter’s vacciversary she looked at me and asked —
DOES THIS CHANGE ANYTHING FOR ME?
What was unspoken (but clearly conveyed by the tone of her voice and the enormous eye-roll she gave me) was this — as an epidemiologist, do you believe I can take off my mask, get together with groups of friends, eat in restaurants or drink coffee in our favorite local coffee shop?
Her question mirrors what I am being asked on a day-to-day basis — am I, an epidemiologist, returning to my pre-pandemic behaviors? have I burned my mask? am I going on vacation this summer?
The short answer is — I haven’t burned my masks and I am slow to return to my pre-pandemic behaviors.
The long answer — we are still in the middle of a pandemic. While I am encouraged that daily case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths are decreasing,
I am worried about new COVID variants and plateauing vaccination rates. I am also worried about my 9-year-old son. He cannot get the COVID vaccine yet and is still susceptible to COVID infection. As a result, our family has decided to proceed cautiously this summer (and into the upcoming school year). We are prioritizing the health and safety of my son and our community as a whole (where the proportion of individuals fully vaccinated is only 40%). To this end, here is what our family has agreed to for the foreseeable future in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prioritize our community’s health —
We will continue to mask while inside with others whose vaccination status is unknown. This means I will continue to wear my mask while shopping, in public restrooms, and while out and about for work. However, if going to an event or gathering indoors where I know everyone is vaccinated, I may take off my mask. We’ll see… I’m not sure how comfortable I am just yet.
We welcome opportunities to be with friends and neighbors outdoors unmasked. This means I’ll be at the soccer field without my mask all summer; come talk to me without your mask regardless of your vaccination status!
We will be exercising outside without masks (read more below). Whether we are walking, hiking, biking, kayaking, or swimming — we will be without our masks!
As a family, we will not be eating indoors at a restaurant.
As a family, we look forward to eating in outdoor spaces.
For my daughter (who is now fully vaccinated), she is welcome to get together with other fully vaccinated friends. They can hang out together inside or outside without masks. She is also welcome to eat/drink IN the local coffee shop with vaccinated friends; however, if the space gets crowded, she knows it is best to mask up and grab a table outside.
For my son (who is not yet vaccinated), he is welcome to play outside with friends without a mask. However, he is not yet allowed to invite friends over to play indoors and he cannot visit friends in their homes. This will be the summer of outdoor playdates!
As a family, we will be traveling this summer. But we will be traveling by car. We will not plan a trip to visit my brother or my husband’s (both are a plane ride away) until we are all fully vaccinated. And we will not be visiting busy destination spots like DisneyWorld or Harry Potter World (though I want to go desperately). Our vacation this year will include a lot of time outside at the beach, on bikes, and with a small group of vaccinated friends/family. While on vacation we will adhere to everything listed above.
We do plan to send our kids back to in-person school for the 2021-22 academic year. Whether they will ride the bus or wear masks is TBD…
As for me, I will be keeping my eye on the daily case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths here in the US. Additionally, I will be watching the global situation, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and the potential for summer spikes of disease. Should there be any cause for concern, we will reevaluate our summer plans. And I will share those concerns and revised plans right here. Stay tuned…
Staying active this summer —
In an effort to keep everyone in our family active this summer, our kids have to accomplish one of the following each day before dinner:
Take 10,000+ steps
Bike at least 5 miles
Kayak at least 2 miles
It has been a great motivator. On Wednesday, K walked more than 8 miles (20,000+ steps). And we’ve biked more than 20 miles since Monday. The theme for our summer is GET MOVING!