My 85yo M-I-L lives in a wing of our house. My wife visits her several times per day, and she often comes over to eat dinner with us. Right now, since none of us are going out, and none of us are vaccinated, we don’t take nay particular precautions when we are together. But… she is scheduled to be vaccinated later this week.
Now what?
She is going to want to go out and go shopping and eat at restaurants once she is. What do we do then, since neither my wife nor I have been vaccinated? Do we wear masks when visiting her? Do we tell her she needs to eat dinner by herself for 10 days if she goes out? Is there any science on this?
I’m dealing with the same thing, sort of. My mom has full time care, and as a result, her “pod” is a lot more porous than I would like. When I visit, I insist that she and I both wear masks.
My daughter, who mostly lives with me, is one of her caretakers. It drives my mom nuts that my daughter wants them to use masks with each other. “You are part of my household.” But of course, my daughter is ALSO part of my household. Currently, my daughter is wearing a mask in both households, when she’s in the same room as someone else.
She and my mom got their first shot last week. I expect them to both be fully vaccinated in the foreseeable future. Best guess is that the vaccine reduces the odds you become infectious, but doesn’t eliminate the risk.
We’ve agreed that my daughter can stop asking my mom to wear a mask in her own home, when it’s just my daughter with her. But she’ll still wear one when hanging out with me and her dad. Sigh. I don’t know if that’s the scientifically best choice, but it is the one that minimizes social friction. I hope it’s not a terrible choice on the science.
For one thing, she should not be going out and acting as if she is immune immediately after getting the vaccination. It takes time for the immunity to develop.
You’re in a tough situation there. I just (minutes ago) had my first confrontation here at work. Client came in wearing a mask, but said she’s had both doses and wants to not wear a mask. I told her she must remain masked, or she must leave. When she asked why, I told her, “because I said so”. She kept her mask on.
My MIL is the same age as yours. She is still trying to get her first vaccine. We’ve met with her during warm weather, eating a meal outside, distanced. Luckily, my gf wants to remain cautious.
If she waits until two weeks after her 2nd shot I wouldn’t worry too much about it. She’ll still have to follow the COVID restrictions though.
I am fully vaccinated but I still have to wear a mask at work all the time unless I am in a room by myself. The COVID rules don’t grant exceptions to those who are vaccinated or have already gotten it.
I’d say it comes pretty close to eliminating the risks of being infected and you don’t know how much it reduces how infectious you are. I don’t know what kind of risk factors you have but when my 80+ mother in law gets her shots, I don’t think I’ll worry much about catching it from her. She’s the one at any real risk.
My mother is certainly at higher risk than i am. But perhaps I’m older and fatter than you, and have a worse history of recovering from other respiratory illnesses. I believe my risk is significant.
My sister, younger and less prone to “long common colds” than I plans to stop worrying after our mom is fully vaccinated. I think that’s perfectly rational of her. My brother and I are less sanguine about our own risks.
I am using the term “fully vaccinated” to refer to 2 weeks after the second dose, fwiw. “2 weeks after the second dose” is a mouthful.
Well, I guess that all depends on what you mean by seemingly needing to “eliminate risk”. The vast majority of people aren’t infectious. If we take testing positive as a sign of being infectious, the Pfizer vaccine knock that down by over half with one dose.
Eta: I assume we’re about the same age, 50ish. Unless you’re morbidly obese, we’re probably not far apart risk wise.
I didn’t think there had been any testing done of how likely someone who took the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine is to test positive, or to shed live virus – those studies have only measured the number of symptomatic cases, to the best of my knowledge. There has been some testing on the Oxford/AstroZeneca vaccine, and it found a reduction of 2/3 in the # of people who tested positive in a nasal swab for the virus.
Oxford’s study, however, found that the vaccine not only prevented severe disease but appeared to cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds. The study has not been peer-reviewed yet.
Volunteers in the study underwent regular nasal swabs. The level of virus-positive swabs — from both those who had COVID-19 symptoms and those who had none – was 67 percent lower in the vaccinated group.
Lots and lots of testing in Israel for the Pfizer vaccine. First dose led to a 50% protection against testing positive.
I am not morbidly obese. I’m close to the border between overweight and obese. And I’m nearly 60. But honestly, the reason I am worried for me is due to my history with the common cold. I get really sick, and it takes me weeks and weeks to feel fully better. I have been actively avoiding anyone with cold symptoms for decades. So “a cold that can kill you” sounds pretty bad to me.
I’ll take care of the guy with the stomach bug if you will care for that woman who is sneezing. 
Link? I can’t find any reference to that with a quick google search. Are they testing the entire population? Some random sample?
Massive sampling on the 60+ age group. Hundreds of thousands followed/tested through the vaccination process.
That article doesn’t say they are doing any testing of asymptomatic people, just that there haven’t been many positive tests done of people who’ve been vaccinated. It’s not a medical article, just an article in Vox, so maybe there’s more there than it says. But it doesn’t sound like it presents any evidence that the vaccines prevent asymptomatic transmission. Just the same evidence that we’ve seen before that the Pfizer vaccine seems to do a good job of preventing people from getting sick.
That’s because they are testing everyone. Read closer because I have no idea how that can be an objection. Later in the article:
Just to be clear: they are very obviously talking about the total positivity, not symptomatic people.
Total positivity of those who are tested. I see no evidence they are testing the general population. I would expect tons of articles about this is your interpretation is correct, and there are none. I believe they are testing people who seek a test, just like every other nation. And that’s not going to include people who have been vaccinated and have no symptoms, unless they know they have exposure and are worryworts.
My wife found this article that might be helpful:
The upshot? Nobody knows…
I cannot get over how utterly fucking selfish people continue to be as the pandemic continues – it has gotten this bad precisely because of people like this, who think that it’s all about them, who cannot fathom that masks, vaccines, and all these other requirements are not in any way intended to impede individuals but to get individuals to cooperate with each other.