WE ARE IN A RACE TO VACCINATE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE
There is welcome news for families, friends and colleagues who have been following public health orders for physical distancing over the past year-plus to protect themselves and others from possible transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
A month ago, on March 8, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued much-anticipated guidelines for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It allows them to commingle indoors with others who are fully vaccinated and visit with unvaccinated members of another household deemed low-risk for infection — such as children and grandchildren — even without masks or social distancing.
We are encouraged by this guidance. It helps restore some sense of normalcy by enabling those who are vaccinated to resume previously ordinary activities, such as hosting friends at home. This may help reduce the social isolation and stress of family separation that so many of us have felt since March 2020.
But even as we plan for a post-pandemic future, and San Diego County has shifted to a less restrictive orange tier with phased reopening underway and vaccines becoming available for everyone 16 and above on April 15, it’s important to understand why there is still a compelling need to continue following current health precautions. Wearing masks and physical distancing, both indoors and in public spaces, continue to be important, even with the arrival of vaccines. Gov. Gavin Newsom now says California could fully reopen on June 15 if certain conditions are met, but the state’s mask mandate will remain in place.
Vaccinated individuals still have a small risk of acquiring asymptomatic infection and could carry unknown risks of transmitting the virus to others. This means that, particularly when interacting with those who are not vaccinated, we should still wear masks, practice physical distancing, avoid large indoor gatherings, stay outdoors for socializing and frequently wash our hands.
Critically, with roughly 20 percent of the U.S population fully vaccinated, we are nowhere near the level of population immunity necessary to keep the virus from spreading. The CDC is reporting tens of thousands of new cases daily and new, more transmissible variants threaten another surge. It is important to balance the desire for fewer restrictions, which will allow local economies to rebound, with the need to ensure we do not reverse public health gains achieved through precautionary measures.
Locally, communities of color continue to be disproportionately affected, with more than 1 in 10 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in some cases. San Diego State University’s own testing efforts in some of the hardest hit neighborhoods in southeast San Diego County show that 16 to 18 percent of residents are testing positive, compared to the 2 to 3 percent positive rate countywide.
On March 3, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California would set aside 40 percent of new vaccine doses for low-income communities and require that 400,000 additional people in those communities be vaccinated before we move to lower tiers. This goal, which has now been met, is in line with the need to address broad concerns about case rates and deaths in these populations, which continue to suffer a disproportionate share.
We are in a race to vaccinate as many people as we can before more transmissible variants become too widespread, and it is not yet clear how well current vaccines will protect against future variants or how long vaccine immunity lasts. Now more than ever, individual and organizational efforts must continue to double down on prevention.
We also need to keep in mind that people we interact with may be at high risk for severe COVID-19 disease, due to age or underlying medical conditions. Although the vaccination rollout protocol in San Diego County has focused on vaccinating those at high risk first, the new guidelines leave it to individual discretion to decide if someone is high-risk or low-risk. To reduce the risk of severe outcomes for unvaccinated friends and family, it is important to not throw caution to the wind. We have seen large gatherings, such as weddings, barbecues and even funerals, become super-spreader events too many times.
We are social creatures, and the need to meet and mix with others is profoundly human. It has been a long, hard year for most of us. Widespread vaccination may allow us all to stop wearing masks in the future, but not quite yet. We urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as you’re eligible with whichever vaccine is available, to get tested if you experience COVID-19 symptoms, and to continue to take all appropriate precautions to protect yourself and others, especially those who are not yet vaccinated.
Critically, with roughly 20 percent of the U.S population fully vaccinated, we are nowhere near the level of population immunity necessary to keep the virus from spreading.