I was vaccinated fully in April (Pfizer). I live in Philadelphia which is not a place where politicians are trying to kill people (in fact Philly proper has reinstated a max mandate two weeks ago). I am content to wear masks indoors when I am not eating or drinking.
How much risk do I have of a) being infected and b) having that infection become something serious?
Whenever I Google this I see a million examples of “do I need a mask while vaccinated,” which is not my problem and in fact it annoys me because I am not looking for a “get out of masks free” card. I will gladly wear a mask and carry my vaccination card with me provided I likely won’t get sick or if I do, I won’t wind up on a ventilator.
I know that the answer might be different in two weeks but right now, how safe am I?
The answer to (a) depends on where you go and what you do. Obviously, your chances of becoming infected are higher if you spend a lot of time in crowded, indoor, poorly-ventilated spaces where some people are not wearing masks than if you mostly stay at home.
The answer to (b) depends on your general level of health and whether you have any risk factors. And both probably depend on other factors that are more-or-less random or currently unknown.
As I understand it, you could still become infected and have it become serious. But you could also become seriously ill from something unrelated to Covid, or get run over by a truck, or… Personally, if I were in your situation, I wouldn’t worry.
I’ve been fully vaccinated since May and wear a mask when I go to the drive-through espresso stand or supermarket. However, judging from the risk calculator, it looks as though I’m going to go back to having my groceries delivered and rarely leaving my house because the Covid infection rate has shot back up where I live.
I just took the highest risk risk county in the US (Cook, GA) and put in my vaccination and 20 people of unknown vaccination status. I have N95 and they have surgical masks. I did put in that the room has HEPA filtration. That put me at moderate risk.
Wait. It makes a big difference whether people are “silent” or “normal”.
I think it is important to remember that wearing a mask is less for your protection and more for other people’s protection (assuming you are not using the more robust N95 masks and only the simple face cover masks).
The wife and I have both been fully vaccinated for months, and we don’t set foot outside without a mask. Not taking any chances. We’ll take them off to walk along the beach, but that’s about it.
I’ve been fully vaccinated for months and never stopped masking. I do my best to avoid being indoors and when forced to do so, I don’t linger. Hubs is unvaccinated and never masked voluntarily. I didn’t get the original COVID when hubs caught it despite living together and sleeping in the same bed.
I did catch delta from him, though. My symptoms were minor, I wouldn’t have given them a second thought pre-pandemic. He was sicker, but not nearly as bad as with the original verison.
We are both vaccinated now and I like to think that between the vaccinations and natural anti-bodies that we are pretty bullet proof now. I’m still masking and avoiding being indoors though.
We’re going to be flying in October, and the most recent surge is worrying me a bit. However, I went to the CDC website to try to assess its latest opinion on the risk of flying. We’re fully vaccinated, and booster’d too, for that matter.
I’m relieved to see that they say that as long as you’re fully vaccinated and wear a mask, that they judge domestic travel to be a safe activity. I believe the airline we’re flying isn’t going to be serving food or drink on the short two-hour flight, so that’s good too. And once we reach our destination, we’ll be staying in a rental farm house that’s well away from other people.