BROWNSVILLE — The sooner everyone gets vaccinated against COVID-19, the sooner we can start having some sense of normalcy.
COVID vaccinations have already begun some degree of liberation from restrictions in place since last year, says Dr. Christopher Romero, medical director at PanAmerican Clinical Research.
“That’s how we get back to a life that looks closer to the way of living that we recognize and that we all miss so dearly,” Romero said.
More encouraging is the release by the CDC of new guidelines for individuals who have been fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means those who received two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson injection.
“On March 8, the CDC put out a guidance document saying that fully vaccinated people are now encouraged to visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks,” Romero said. “That’s great news. They can have these small gatherings again with the people we know and love and have missed dearly, and they can see their smiling faces again.”
Furthermore, fully vaccinated people can also visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for a severe case of COVID.
“They said that could be done indoors without wearing a mask,” Romero said. “So if somebody is fully vaccinated and they are having these small gatherings of maybe a family member or a very close friend who is at low risk for having severe COVID, they can start doing that again.”
Fully vaccinated persons who have a known exposure to COVID 19 don’t need to quarantine unless they show symptoms. The relaxation of some restrictions, however, doesn’t mean people can completely dismiss their sense of caution.
“I think that we all need to have a healthy level of awareness and not let our guards fully down,” Romero said. “That’s because there are strains or variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) emerging which the vaccine may not be as protective against.”
Thus the urgency for people to get vaccinated. One of the big concerns of the medical community is not getting enough people vaccinated in time to prevent the spread of variants. If those variants emerge while COVID-19 is still in good circulation, they could present a whole new crisis.
“We could have an escape mutant that isn’t really well covered by the vaccine,” he said. “Then we’re getting close to back to square one and have to go through the whole situation again, which I really hope we’re able to avoid.”
But that nightmare doesn’t have to repeat itself. It can be avoided by getting vaccinated. Those who aren’t vaccinated should continue to follow all safety recommendations until the situation changes.
