Doctors explained once grandparents are vaccinated, yes, they can still visit family, but precautions are still needed.
According to Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency room physician and professor with George Washington University, it depends on if you have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Wen adds you are not entirely protected after you receive your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and even right after you receive the second dose, it takes about another two to three weeks to reach that optimal degree of immune protection.
The vaccine is 95 percent effective not 100 percent, so chances of getting the virus and transmit it to your loved ones who aren’t vaccinated are high since the vaccine has not yet been shown to reduce the transmission of the virus, Wen said.
You could be protected yourself if you get exposed to someone with COVID-19 but you could still be a carrier of the virus. When you get together with your loved ones, you could spread it to those who aren’t vaccinated, Wen explained.
If you want to see your grandchildren, you may still want to take certain precautions of wearing a mask, especially if inside or be on the safe side and see loved ones in an outdoor setting while keeping six feet apart. Dr. Wen adds that we will most likely have to keep social distancing precautions up until we reach herd immunity.
It is still not known how many people will need to develop immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated that this could take up to 85 percent of the American people to be vaccinated.
According to medical experts, ideally it will be safest to see loved ones without social distancing guidelines in place, when both adults and children are vaccinated. Clinical trials of the vaccine for children are still underway. Children are predicted to start receiving the vaccine anywhere from this summer to fall.
