How Much Will Your Life Change Once You’ve Been Vaccinated?
To coincide with the U.S. vaccine rollout, Elemental has published an extremely thorough guide to Covid-19 vaccines, answering every question we could think of. Elemental will continue to update and add to this FAQ as the rollout and FDA authorization process continues. If you would like to submit a question, leave a response at the end of the story. Here’s a peek at one of the questions inside.
Q: Can I go back to my pre-Covid lifestyle (no masks, going wherever I want, meeting with groups, traveling) once I get the vaccine?
It will continue to be important for everyone to wear masks in public or around other people until large enough numbers of people have gotten the vaccine or the disease has stopped spreading through communities. It’s impossible to tell by looking at someone whether they’ve been vaccinated, so it would be impossible to effectively enforce mask mandates if only unvaccinated people were required to wear masks. (There aren’t plans to issue bracelets like those seen in the movie Contagion or anything similar.) Further, no vaccine is 100% effective, and we don’t yet know if any of the vaccines prevent transmission, so it might be possible to catch or transmit the disease even if you have been vaccinated.
