Do the vaccinated still have to wear masks?

[HettySunshine]

Once a person has had their two doses of the vaccine will they still need to wear a mask? I've just been talking to my dh about it and we couldn't decide.

It seems logical that they wouldn't, and that gradually the number of people masking would go down, but in these early stages of vaccination when mask-wearing is still so important would it be detrimental to have an increasing percentage of the population not wearing them anymore?

What are your thoughts?

Yes, how would anyone be able to tell wether you’ve been vaccinated or not? People would just use it as another excuse not to wear masks.

They said on the radio that those who are vaccinated will still have to wear masks and observe social distancing for the moment. The vaccine does not give 100% protection and they do not know if those who have been vaccinated can still be carriers.

I think yes, because they don't know yet whether vaccination stops people from passing on the virus to others.

I reckon buses will still insist on masks to avoid people just lying

But you won’t die if you have been vaccinated so don’t turn it down!

Yes they do. There’s no evidence that vaccines stop you being a carrier or renders the virus sterile so until a large percentage of people have received a vaccination of some sort spread is still a concern.

Vaccinations protect the individual at low levels of inoculation throughout the community.

Yes because we don't know yet if the vaccine prevents transmission.

Ah, that's really interesting. I didn't realise that the vaccine doesn't stop you transmitting the virus.

Yes, until the question of how far the vaccine confers sterilising immunity is settled.

Right now, what we know is that the vaccine (almost invariably) prevents serious disease. We do not know for sure that it stops the disease stone-cold. So you could still get a mild version, and therefore be infectious.

It benefits the individual enormously, as it makes those who were in high risk groups have a similar risk to the healthy under50s.

It might benefit the community, if it provides sterilising immunity (and the indications are favourable), but right now we do not know, so social distanceing precautions, including masks, will remain necessary for a considerable time to come.

If we vaccinate at the rate if 1 million a week, then we will have done all the very elderly and CEV by about the start of April (1st dose only). Unless we have doubled administration capacity in those 12 weeks, then we shall have to pause new first doses whilst the second ones for the first group are done.

I'm obviously missing something here. If the vaccine protects a person against getting the virus, how can a vaccinated person transmit it, if they haven't got it?

Or is it that the vaccine doesn't fully protect against the virus, so theoretically, a vaccinated person could still catch it and transmit it?

If that is correct, then how useful is it to vaccinate people? (I'm not anti-vax and will be vaccinated as soon as I can).

@KarenMarlow3

I'm obviously missing something here. If the vaccine protects a person against getting the virus, how can a vaccinated person transmit it, if they haven't got it?

Or is it that the vaccine doesn't fully protect against the virus, so theoretically, a vaccinated person could still catch it and transmit it?

If that is correct, then how useful is it to vaccinate people? (I'm not anti-vax and will be vaccinated as soon as I can).

It doesn't protect a person against getting the virus. It protects them from serious disease and that is why the vaccination will be useful. There is still questions over transmission - they need more data to determine this, but this can only be collected if large numbers of people get the vaccination.

The vaccine reduces the viral load. So it doesn't necessarily prevent people catching it, but if they do catch it they will likely only experience very mild symptoms. Vastly reducing deaths and hospital admissions.

Asymptomatic transmission is rarely that - it’s usually pre-symptomatic transmission. By reducing disease severity (and also symptoms) I believe there’s also a strong possibility that transmission will also reduce.

A simple example would be that if someone is not coughing all over the place, they will not be transmitting so widely.

I’m not a scientist.

It's going to be about three to four months before there is enough data to know if those that have the vaccine are less likely to spread the virus.

It's just not known yet as they haven't got enough data.

@KarenMarlow3 partly it’s about what outcomes we have been able to measure. It’s much easier to give people the vaccine and count how many end up poorly in hospital with covid. Much more difficult to count how many people they have passed it on to.
We have enough data to know both vaccines are really really good at stopping you from being seriously ill, but they’re still gathering data about asymptomatic illness / passing it on. Hopefully both will be massively reduced but we don’t have the evidence either way yet.

I think whatever they discover about transmission in the meantime they won't announce that the vaccinated are exempt from covid restrictions until we're in a position that they can be lifted for everyone - it's too difficult, politically, and would be disastrous for compliance in the not yet vaccinated. Similarly no one wants to open the 'almost certainly you don't spread as much of you're not symptomatic ' can of worms with the general public; anything that chips away at the idea that you can kill someone with Covid without even knowing you have it (which is both true and exaggerated) would massively undermine compliance at a time where we really, really need it.

Yes.

Masks protect others from getting the virus from wearers.

I think until everyone vaccinated will see it changes each week

Yes, people who have been vaccinated will have to follow all the same rules and assume they can transmit the virus as easily as anyone else, until we have evidence to the contrary.

I think it will be Easter 2022 before masks are dispensed with.

We'll be into Autumn before all Adults in the UK are vaccinated. They won't want to drop the guard and social distancing completely before winter, covid, cold and flu season, so Spring 2022.

The more and more people that get vaccinated the bigger this issue will become with a much higher number not wearing masks etc because they will only be thinking of themselves and not the transmission.
It will also get many more people back into shops etc that have previously avoided them and make distancing harder.

My son had the virus and has continued to wear a mask.
Surely this in the same principle?

just another echo here to say yes and repeat the same info.
Masks are to protect others! Vaccines so far seem to be protective against serious disease but not mild. Therefore as a vaccinated person you are more likely to be able to be out and about with mild disease thinking it's just some bug, so mask wearing must continue as must social distancing until far more of the vulnerable population has been vaccinated.

@KarenMarlow3

I'm obviously missing something here. If the vaccine protects a person against getting the virus, how can a vaccinated person transmit it, if they haven't got it?

Or is it that the vaccine doesn't fully protect against the virus, so theoretically, a vaccinated person could still catch it and transmit it?

If that is correct, then how useful is it to vaccinate people? (I'm not anti-vax and will be vaccinated as soon as I can).

Just to add to previous answers, a vaccine trains an individuals immune system to fight off the virus therefore it can still be present in their secretions (for want of a better word). That’s why trials looked at the number of people who were still ill and measured how severe their illness was.

Whether it’s possible the vaccination reduces the virus to levels that mean infections would be highly unlikely or the immune response is very quick remains to be seen.

It's going to be hard to swallow when some of the vulnerable that have been vaccinated start to ignore social distantancing and mask wearing because they're alright jack when it's the rest of society that have lost jobs, education, opportunities to protect them.

I can see it causing big divisions actually.