USA Today :
As an emergency physician, Dr Eugenia South was in the first group of people to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. She received her second dose last week – even before President-elect Joe Biden. Yet South said she is in no rush to throw away her face mask.
“I honestly don’t think I’ll ever go without a mask at work again,” said South, faculty director of the Urban Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe doing that.”
And although vaccines are highly effective, South plans to continue wearing her mask outside the hospital as well.
Health experts say there are good reasons to follow her example, reports USA Today.
“Masks and social distancing will need to continue into the foreseeable future – until we have some level of herd immunity,” said Dr Preeti Malani, chief health officer at the University of Michigan. “Masks and distancing are here to stay.”
Malani and other health experts explained five reasons people should hold on to their masks:
Large clinical trials found that two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines prevented 95% of illnesses caused by the coronavirus. While those results are impressive, one in 20 people are left unprotected, said Dr Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Malani notes that vaccines were tested in controlled clinical trials at top medical centers, under optimal conditions. In the real world, vaccines are usually slightly less effective. Scientists use specific terms to describe the phenomenon. They refer to the protection offered by vaccines in clinical trials as “efficacy,” while the actual immunity seen in a vaccinated population is “effectiveness.”
The effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines could be affected by the way they are handled, Malani said.
The genetic material used in mRNA vaccines – made with messenger RNA from the coronavirus – is so fragile that it has to be carefully stored and transported. Any variation from the CDC’s strict guidance could influence how well vaccines work, Malani said.
No vaccine is effective right away, Malani said. It takes about two weeks for the immune system to make the antibodies that block viral infections.
Covid-19 vaccines will take a little longer than other inoculations, such as the flu shot, because both the Moderna and Pfizer products require two doses. The Pfizer shots are given three weeks apart; the Moderna shots, four weeks apart.
As an emergency physician, Dr Eugenia South was in the first group of people to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. She received her second dose last week – even before President-elect Joe Biden. Yet South said she is in no rush to throw away her face mask.
“I honestly don’t think I’ll ever go without a mask at work again,” said South, faculty director of the Urban Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe doing that.”
And although vaccines are highly effective, South plans to continue wearing her mask outside the hospital as well.
Health experts say there are good reasons to follow her example, reports USA Today.
“Masks and social distancing will need to continue into the foreseeable future – until we have some level of herd immunity,” said Dr Preeti Malani, chief health officer at the University of Michigan. “Masks and distancing are here to stay.”
Malani and other health experts explained five reasons people should hold on to their masks:
Large clinical trials found that two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines prevented 95% of illnesses caused by the coronavirus. While those results are impressive, one in 20 people are left unprotected, said Dr Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Malani notes that vaccines were tested in controlled clinical trials at top medical centers, under optimal conditions. In the real world, vaccines are usually slightly less effective. Scientists use specific terms to describe the phenomenon. They refer to the protection offered by vaccines in clinical trials as “efficacy,” while the actual immunity seen in a vaccinated population is “effectiveness.”
The effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines could be affected by the way they are handled, Malani said.
The genetic material used in mRNA vaccines – made with messenger RNA from the coronavirus – is so fragile that it has to be carefully stored and transported. Any variation from the CDC’s strict guidance could influence how well vaccines work, Malani said.
No vaccine is effective right away, Malani said. It takes about two weeks for the immune system to make the antibodies that block viral infections.
Covid-19 vaccines will take a little longer than other inoculations, such as the flu shot, because both the Moderna and Pfizer products require two doses. The Pfizer shots are given three weeks apart; the Moderna shots, four weeks apart.
