India began its mass vaccination drive against novel coronavirus on 16th February and so far, more than 2,30,08,733 doses of vaccination have been administered in the country.
But a very common question that arises is, what happens after that? Are you safe from coronavirus once you get vaccinated?
Let’s understand this: First of all, you are required to take two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine shot to get complete immunity against the virus. However, you have to take certain measures to make sure that the vaccine is working against the virus. Once you get the two doses of the vaccine, you achieve immunity, and this is when you can call yourself safe.
Now, what happens after?
According to CDC, a fully vaccinated individual can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing.
Here’s What the expert explains:
Why it’s important to wear the right mask even after you get vaccinated?
“While people who have got vaccinated are now immune to the COVID 19 virus, they can still possibly spread the virus. How it works is that if a vaccinated person is now exposed to COVID 19, the virus won’t impact him but he is still carrying that virus which he can easily transfer to others around him (non-vaccinated people) through sneezing, coughing, and non-sanitized hands. While he is now immune to the virus, he can still be a carrier of the virus and a cause of further spread,” Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant Internal Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said.
“Therefore, wearing masks and following all precautions that we have been following for the past 10 months continue to be very important. This will have to continue for a long time unless everybody develops herd immunity against the virus or it gets eradicated, which right now is a farfetched goal,” he added.
How can one ensure the use of the right mask?
Both N-95 and surgical three-layered masks are recommended to people, to help them protect against COVID 19. But ideally, N95 masks are for people who are dealing with COVID positive patients or conducting procedures on COVID 19 patients, like frontline workers- healthcare professionals, hospital staff, etc. Otherwise for general use, a surgical three-plied mask is as effective as N-95 masks. Additionally, while using N-95 masks it is important that those masks should not have a valve. In case an asymptomatic patient of COVID 19 wears an N-95 mask with a valve, that increases the risk of him transmitting the infection to people around him, explains Dr. Chatterjee.
Also, wearing a mask correctly is very important. It should fit you properly and cover your nose, mouth, and chin. It should neither be very tight nor too loose. Ensure that the fabric masks are washed with soap every time they are worn and surgical masks need to be discarded in closed bins.