That is more or less my fear. We are not really out of the woods. I do feel more comfortable being around those I know are fully vaccinated, but wonder who is not and has no plans to get vaccinated.
There are a couple of social groups we belong to. They have not met since March 2020. There are numerous members who are wanting to get together very much. (Social dancing groups). Currently many are planning on a dance event soon. We know many couples who have been fully vaccinated. I know there are members who are not vaccinated and have no intention to become vaccinated. On the one hand I think that, okay, let’s all dance. Those who have been vaccinated will be alright. Those who are not vaccinated may spread covid and some may die. But I wouldn’t want to be there if a new virulent variant popped up and was spread.
I am trusting the vaccines. Have actually danced and it was wonderful! Very grateful to be fully vaccinated! It appears that the risk drops to such a low level that it is worth it to me. Can’t even begin to measure the heath benefits from dancing. Far exceeded the effectiveness of people I knew who took to medical supervision and drugs for the kinds of blood pressure and cholesterol numbers I was seeing before I started dancing. Have no desire to see my numbers now as I suspect they would be borderline medical intervention numbers. (As they were before I started dancing.) If dancing gets back to the point where I am doing it a couple of times a week or so I know my numbers will go back to the healthy side again.
Checking my County’s info today, my County is reporting 74.5% have received at least one dose and 61.3% are fully vaccinated. This is for all residents ages 12 and older. Not too bad.
My County has a population of about 2 million.
This weekend I went and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. First outing around lots of people in over a year. Everyone wore masks and the Aquarium was working on reduced capacity, but there were still lots of people around. Enough that social distancing of 6’ or more was not possible near many of the exhibits and out on the street.
I felt fairly safe though as I’m fully vaccinated with Pfizer and had my mask (except when eating).
I know this isn't a Coronavirus news thread anymore, but I have some good non-controversial news to share.
Apparently, 6 months after someone is fully vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer, their antibodies are through the roof.
So a booster shot 9 or 12 months later may not be necessary, according to Dr. Vin Gupta, a real doctor on TV that seems to know what he is talking about.
This makes me happy, because if we don't need a booster shot maybe even ever, life will be more convenient.
Edit:
I removed the links but you can find the information easily on Reddit’s r/COVID19 subreddit (the one for strictly scientific discussion, beware that the other coronavirus subreddits can be rather toxic if you don’t fully agree with their majority position).
You need to search both the company name as well as the ‘scientific’ name. Moderna’s vaccine ‘scientific’ name is mRNA-1273 while Biontech/Pfizer’s is BNT162b2. Astrazeneca’s is ChAdOx1, Sputnik V is Gam-COVID-Vac. J&J vaccine is also referred as Janssen.
Let’s hope the virus dies soon like this thread.
Just read that people with mild covid infections have long term protection found in bone marrow tests.