Many people hope that getting a vaccine against Covid-19 will mark an immediate return to normalcy: no more masks, no more distancing, dinners indoors safely, and big hugs with friends.
The reality is more complicated. For now, people who have been shot have to navigate decision-making in a world where vaccinated and unvaccinated people will live together for months, even within the same home.
What to do and what not to do? U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue guidelines soon. “We’re taking the time to do it right and we’ll publish the guide soon,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said Friday. “We want to make sure the communication is clear.”
Meanwhile, other experts are a little divided. Some say vaccinated people can and should have significantly greater freedom, and believe it is important to emphasize this to encourage more people to receive the vaccine. Others are more conservative, saying it is too early to leave too many precautions without more conclusive data on the effectiveness of vaccines against new variants and the potential risk of vaccinated people spreading the virus to unvaccinated people.