Vaccination nation

[Caracal]

I think a lot of the messaging around post-vaccination risks coming from some public health folks is unhelpful and likely to backfire. People are bad at thinking about risk probabilities. If you keep telling people they can't do anything differently because the risk is non-zero, they are likely to just dismiss any other messaging around risk mitigation. After all, nothing in life is zero risk (including staying home alone!), so that's just not a realistic goal.

Helping people think about risk budgets would be much more helpful-- want to spend time indoors with a select group of other vaccinated people? Great, you can do that relatively safely, but maybe think about not eating indoors at restaurants to help balance the risk budget, etc.

Also, I lot of us who do mental health research think the second wave mental health crisis from all this will be a certain percentage of people who remain extremely anxious about health risks to the point that they continue to isolate and find it very hard to re-engage in normal activities. You already see this e.g., in people who continue to do things like wipe down groceries with disinfectant and leave packages and mail "quarantined" for days, despite petty clear scientific consensus that this is neither necessary nor helpful (and potentially harmful given the cleaning products are not always benign).

All good points. I know a lot of my anxiety comes from wanting certainty and reassurance about things where it is impossible to get them. Obviously wanting to avoid getting COVID and spreading it to others is reasonable and socially responsible and given the really high levels of transmission and the dangers it is has been reasonable to take extreme measures to do that. However, once vaccination starts to change those numbers, it becomes reasonable to adjust. It isn't healthy to take an attitude that any chance of getting COVID or spreading it to someone else is unacceptable.

[FishProf]

My in-laws (80s) are vaccinated, and now they are insisting that it is safe to come and visit us and be all together in the living room.

Grrr.  WE are not vaccinated, and Smolt won't be for quite a while.  So, NO.  (Now I have to convince MrsFishProf)

Thanks for sharing this.

1. Is this because, although vaccinated (with second dose, say a month ago), age 80s in-laws have a small chance of catching Covid from family who are not vaccinated?

2.  Is it because we don't yet know with certainty whether the vaccinated can still transmit the virus to those not vaccinated?

3.  What are people's thoughts on someone who is not vaccinated visiting elderly family members who are vaccinated?  Is that too much of a risk to the elderly?  In some families, there may be some members who choose not to get vaccinated.  What are the implications?

4.  I'm confused.

They got their second dose last week, so they aren't even fully protected yet.

But it is a combination of 3 things. 
1) Transmission to and from the vaccinated is unclear at present (so, #1 and #2)
2) The assumption that is only them we need to worry about.
3) The assumption that (generic) YOUR assessment of the risk should trump everyone else's.

[Vkw10]

Two Down, Done Deal! At completion I was given my document that said so. "Why", I asked. "In case you have to certify that you have for some reason.",  I was told.

Me, at a singles gathering, "Hi, I'm Randy", response, "Yes, of course. My name is Audrey. "YOUR PAPERS!"

If you travel in the next year, you may need those papers. I've seen some discussion of airlines possibly requiring documentation depending on destination. A friend received a $500 bonus for presenting his vaccine certification to corporate HR.

[wareagle]

My state is moving on to the educators, and they did include higher ed in the category.  I finally have an appointment a week from Friday!

[namazu]

CDC issues interim public health recommendations for fully-vaccinated people

NPR article about it



In other news, women tend to have more unpleasant experiences with COVID vaccines, as with other vaccines (from the NY Times).

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

FYI. Some grocery stores have 'Leftover Lists' or 'Waste Lists' for leftover vaccines that have not been used (and need to be or they will be wasted) at the end of the day. I signed us up today.

[apl68]

Librarians are now officially eligible in our state!  Maybe that municipal employee vaccination clinic we've been hearing noises about can actually take place soon.

[Economizer]

Two Down, Done Deal! At completion I was given my document that said so. "Why", I asked. "In case you have to certify that you have for some reason.",  I was told.

Me, at a singles gathering, "Hi, I'm Randy", response, "Yes, of course. My name is Audrey. "YOUR PAPERS!"

If you travel in the next year, you may need those papers. I've seen some discussion of airlines possibly requiring documentation depending on destination. A friend received a $500 bonus for presenting his vaccine certification to corporate HR.

About the document, it is a card. It is a CDC issue and, rather than being wallet sized which works well for men, it is more like a 3x5 that is more suited to a purse or handbag. So men, we go to the use of a purse or handbag. PRONTO!!!

[Vkw10]

Two Down, Done Deal! At completion I was given my document that said so. "Why", I asked. "In case you have to certify that you have for some reason.",  I was told.

Me, at a singles gathering, "Hi, I'm Randy", response, "Yes, of course. My name is Audrey. "YOUR PAPERS!"

If you travel in the next year, you may need those papers. I've seen some discussion of airlines possibly requiring documentation depending on destination. A friend received a $500 bonus for presenting his vaccine certification to corporate HR.

About the document, it is a card. It is a CDC issue and, rather than being wallet sized which works well for men, it is more like a 3x5 that is more suited to a purse or handbag. So men, we go to the use of a purse or handbag. PRONTO!!!

I scanned mine, so I can present it on phone. The card is filed with passport.

[clean]

The card is filed with passport.

Interesting... How did you do this?

(and by 'filed with passport', you mean that you submitted it to the Department of State - which issued you the passport?)

[ergative]

The card is filed with passport.

Interesting... How did you do this?

(and by 'filed with passport', you mean that you submitted it to the Department of State - which issued you the passport?)

Hah--I assumed it meant, 'I put it in my physical filing cabinet in the same folder where I keep my physical passport.' Vkw10, which interpretation is it?

[histchick]

My in-laws (80s) are vaccinated, and now they are insisting that it is safe to come and visit us and be all together in the living room.

Grrr.  WE are not vaccinated, and Smolt won't be for quite a while.  So, NO.  (Now I have to convince MrsFishProf)

Thanks for sharing this.

1. Is this because, although vaccinated (with second dose, say a month ago), age 80s in-laws have a small chance of catching Covid from family who are not vaccinated?

2.  Is it because we don't yet know with certainty whether the vaccinated can still transmit the virus to those not vaccinated?

3.  What are people's thoughts on someone who is not vaccinated visiting elderly family members who are vaccinated?  Is that too much of a risk to the elderly?  In some families, there may be some members who choose not to get vaccinated.  What are the implications?

4.  I'm confused.

In my case, it's a combo of #1 and #2.  My parents are in their 70s (mother was recent cancer patient) and my husband and I are high-risk and haven't been vaccinated. My brother lives with my parents and works outside the home.  He's very careful around them (and they with him).  We have seen them three times since February 2020, but only because we were able to isolate for several days before and after each visit, and they have plenty of room to distance even during a meal. Still a risk, but one with which everyone was comfortable. 

Our state may expand eligibility at the end of the month, so we should be fully vaccinated by early May, right as the semester is ending.  At this point, we might as well wait to visit again.  My parents, while they want to see us, understand completely.

As it turns out, Walmart is doing a waste-avoidance protocol in my state.  This has not been widely advertised.  A colleague called my husband yesterday morning, he called Walmart, and presto change-o, they called right back to tell us that we could come in yesterday afternoon.  Go figure. 

If my mother didn't hear anything about it in her major metropolitan area, and I didn't hear anything about it until yesterday, and I check our state's DPH site regularly, I can't help but wonder how many other sites have waste-avoidance protocols in place and just aren't advertising them. 

On another note, my husband has only a sore arm.  I have muscle aches all over my body, and had chills last night.  Go figure. :-)

[Vkw10]

The card is filed with passport.

Interesting... How did you do this?

(and by 'filed with passport', you mean that you submitted it to the Department of State - which issued you the passport?)

Hah--I assumed it meant, 'I put it in my physical filing cabinet in the same folder where I keep my physical passport.' Vkw10, which interpretation is it?

Filing cabinet. I have a scanner app on phone, but I suppose the phone camera would work, too.

[kaysixteen]

waste-avoidance protocol?

[namazu]

waste-avoidance protocol?

Distribution of doses that would otherwise go to waste (because the vials are only good for so long once thawed).