If you think it’s highly effective why are you advocating those of us who have completed their course not change their routine?
The CDC will be releasing new guidance soon that will relax their recommendations yet you advocate not changing your routine. It’s one or the other.
Never said they shouldn't change their routine. In fact, I said the opposite -- I said it appears totally safe for people who are vaccinated to congregate with other vaccinated people, without masks.
Now, whether they can stop wearing masks in large public gatherings with people who aren't vaccinated:
That's an entirely different story. (and this isn't according to me, this is according to every expert).... So there are 3 critical reasons you can't suddenly have huge maskless public gatherings:
1. Remember, you do NOT wear a mask primarily to protect yourself. The primary reason for wearing the mask is to protect OTHER people.
We do NOT know the degree to which the vaccine prevents TRANSMISSION of Covid. More and more evidence is coming out that it does reduce transmission but the data is just starting to come in. We don't know HOW MUCH it reduces transmission.
Since this is such a huge question mark -- We need to continue masking to protect others.
2. Furthermore, there are a lot of other unknowns. We know the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are HIGHLY EFFECTIVE in the short-term (first couple of months), against the previously dominant variants. We know they are less effective against the South African variant -- We don't really know HOW MUCH less effective.
Now, even if the vaccine becomes much less effective after 6 months.. even if it had poor effectiveness against the South African variant, and even if the SA variant grows -- It's extremely unlikely a vaccinated person would transmit it to another vaccinated person.
But, if either of those people are unvaccinated -- there could potentially be a very real risk both ways in that scenario.
3. I previously said you could immediately start to have maskless large gatherings if you required a vaccine passport -- If you guaranteed that every person present was vaccinated.
But if you don't have proof of vaccination, then you have no way of knowing who was vaccinated and who isn't.
Children don't even qualify for the vaccine but can face extremely serious complications from Covid infection, Multi-system inflammatory syndrome.
So in that large gathering mixing vaccinated adults with non-vaccinated adults with non-vaccinated children... how would you enforce a rule that only non-vaccinated people have to wear masks?? (And remember, go back to #1 -- You wear a mask to protect the people around you, you don't wear it to protect yourself).