Can You Stop Wearing Your Mask After Getting COVID-19 Vaccine?
Can you stop wearing your mask once you get the COVID-19 vaccine? This topic came up during our COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall that we hosted on Saturday, February 20, 2021. According to the doctors we spoke to, you will need to continue to wear your mask and wash your hands, even after you get vaccinated. The physicians that Nexstar spoke with also said you must continue wearing your mask, according to WIVB.
Ed Nice and I spoke with Dr. Mona Chitre, PharmD, Chief Pharmacy Officer and VP of Clinical Strategy, and Innovation, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, during our Town Hall and asked about whether folks need to still practice wearing a mask, the social distancing, the constant handwashing after getting vaccinated. Dr. Chitre said,
"They're so critically important because what could happen is the coronavirus can still be lodged in your nose. Now you who are vaccinated, you'll have the antibodies, you'll have the protection, that coronavirus cannot actually make you sick. However, it could potentially make your loved ones or your community members sick, if you're not wearing that mask or practicing those social distancing measures."
The Centers for Disease Controls also recommends that you wear a mask, even if you have received two doses of the vaccine,
It’s important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions. Experts are also looking at how many people get vaccinated and how the virus is spreading in communities. We also don’t yet know whether getting a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to other people, even if you don’t get sick yourself.
It's going to be interesting to see if people actually continue to wear masks after they get vaccinated, regardless of what the experts say. It's been a struggle to get many people to wear masks before the vaccines were developed. Will you continue to wear your mask after you get vaccinated (the poll is anonymous, so keep it real)?
LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.
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