You will need to wear a mask for a few months after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine

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• Covid-19 vaccines indicate a step towards normalcy, but it does not mean that you should stop wearing a mask.
• The vaccine won’t protect you right away, and we don’t yet know if it prevents you from getting the virus or if it just keeps you from getting sick.
• South Africa’s rules currently do not provide for removing your mask once you have had the coronavirus or a vaccine, and probably will not do so in the future.
• Visit the Business Insider SA home page for more stories.

Three coronavirus vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca, have been approved in the US, the UK, or both. And while there is still some confusion over the details, South Africans should get vaccinated before April, the government said this week.

While getting vaccines to the people who need them most is an important step in the right direction, it doesn’t mean the pandemic is over.

Precautions like wearing masks and social distancing will continue to be necessary until most people around the world have been vaccinated and we know more about how the long-term injection works.

See also | SA parents likely not jailed for kids without masks, but stores should kick them out

“I think the people’s perception is that you get the vaccine and you’re safe and we can finally stop all this masking and social distancing and stuff, but that’s not the reality,” said Debra Goff, infectious disease pharmacist and professor at Ohio State University, Insider’s Anna Medaris Miller told.

The reality is that we still don’t know if the vaccine protects people from contracting and spreading Covid-19 or if it just keeps them from getting noticeably sick. What’s more, even if the vaccine protects you from catching the virus, it won’t be fully effective until after the second dose, about a month after the first injection.

So in the meantime, “for the sake of others, you should keep wearing that mask” and keep your physical distance from others, Goff said.

For some vaccines, you need both injections to be fully protected against Covid-19

Covid-19 vaccines contain small pieces of genetic material intended to teach your immune system how to fight the coronavirus. These messenger RNA fragments can’t make you sick with Covid-19, but it takes them some time to do their job.

The Pfizer vaccine, for example, is only 52% effective in preventing Covid-19 after the first dose. The second injection, when given three weeks later, brings that number to 95%.

It is possible to contract Covid-19 during the period between the first and the second shot. In fact, an American nurse reported that she tested positive for Covid-19 the day after Christmas, just over a week after receiving her first injection of the vaccine.

Doctors said this scenario was destined to happen over time, as people don’t even begin to develop antibodies until 10 to 14 days after receiving the first injection. During the period of time between doses, it is vital to wear a mask to protect yourself and others.

You may also need to wear a mask to protect others who have not yet received both doses of the vaccine.

While priority groups such as healthcare workers, the elderly, and people with pre-existing conditions are likely to slowly gain access to the vaccine starting in April, it will most likely take a while for it to be available.

And the pandemic won’t officially end until everyone has access to the vaccine, the US infectious disease expert said in a podcast in November.

“If we have the disease in other parts of the world, it is not clear to me that we can go back and do big sporting events or open bars because, like Australia or South Korea, the risk of reinfection is looming,” Gates said. on the podcast. “So as long as I’m in the world, I’m not sure we’ll be completely back to normal.”

It’s also possible that some vaccines will be more effective in some populations than others, Fauci added, and not all vaccine options will be close to 100% effective. Given the mosaic of coverage we are seeing, it is important to wear a mask and stay away from others until the majority of the population is immune to the coronavirus.

The South African mask rules have no exceptions, and probably won’t in the future

The requirement to wear a mask is universal in South Africa, and even very young children are not excluded.

There are no provisions under the current rules for people who have already had the coronavirus to skip the masks, and there are no immunity passport exemptions for those who have received a vaccine.

A differentiated approach is unlikely to be introduced before the end of the pandemic, as it would complicate implementation for both the police and the owners of public places, who must ensure that no one enters without a mask.

(Additional compilation from Business Insider South Africa).