What to do?

For those of us in Canada, there is a great deal of uncertainty about what we can do when we are vaccinated. In the U.S. the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines on March 8 for fully vaccinated individuals, saying they can safely meet indoors without masks or physically distancing with others who had received both shots.

The CDC also said those who have had both shots can visit unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19, as well as skipping quarantine and testing if exposed to COVID-19 without showing symptoms.

We in Canada are left wondering what they can do after getting vaccinated and if we can safely see our families, other vaccinated people or generally feel less at risk from COVID-19 after a year under strict public health measures.

But the recommendations still haven't been updated leaving many of us tempted to make up our own rules while we are waiting for our Public Health Agencies across Canada to tell us what we can and can't do after being vaccinated.

In Canada, we are waiting four months at least for our second dose, so what are the guidelines for Canadians who have only had one dose?

The science is clear, we are only fully vaccinated after two doses. Does this mean that Canadians will have to continue practicing physical distancing, proper hand hygiene, avoiding crowds and wearing masks in public?

There is some science that says you are “still at risk even though you're fully vaccinated," says Kelvin, who is also evaluating Canadian vaccines with the VIDO-InterVac lab in Saskatoon. He goes on to say that “even with two doses, you can still be infected and transmit the virus — you just might not be as ill as somebody who wasn't vaccinated.”

So, currently, it appears that we, in Canada, need to continue to follow the strict rules we have been under for a year, but with some loosing of a few restrictions. The sooner we can get the second dose, the faster we get back to near normal.