Learn to live with COVID: When and how can fully vaccinated people continue their lives?

It is becoming increasingly clear that COVID-19 will not go anywhere.

In other words, we need to learn to live with it.

And for many people, especially young and healthy adults who are fully vaccinated, it’s time to put COVID in the same category as the flu season, with some important warnings, experts say.

Dr. Liam Sullivan, a spectrum health infectious disease specialist at Grand Rapids, said: “At some point, we have to start thinking about ways to move forward collectively, and I have identified specific people who have been vaccinated that the coronavirus is less of a health threat than influenza at this point. I think there is a segment. “

But what exactly does that mean?

How confident do fully vaccinated people need to be about eating indoors in a restaurant? Are you going to a wedding or funeral? Would you like to host a dinner party or family celebration? Are you going to a soccer match? trip?

The official stance of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fully vaccinated people “can resume the activities they did before the pandemic.”

That said, agencies now recommend wearing masks in public places in “substantially or highly infected” communities throughout the United States.

“In my personal opinion, if fully vaccinated, the risk of serious illness is low enough that you should be able to go out and live your life,” said an Oakland County Infectious Diseases expert. Dr. Frank Rosenblatt said. McLaren Health.

Still, he said, it comes down to “people can be okay if not perfect” in terms of personal risk assessment and protection from COVID.

Indeed, these risks are quite different from when the pandemic began.

COVID-19 poses such a threat last year as it is a new virus, lacking immunity, lack of vaccines, and doctors seeking effective treatments for diseases they have never seen before. Brought.

In short, COVID-19 is a much more deadly virus than influenza, killing an estimated 30,000-60,000 Americans annually and resulting in 140,000-800,000 hospitalizations annually. Based on an estimated 9.3 to 45 million influenza cases annually in the United States, influenza patients have a mortality rate of about 0.1% and a hospitalization rate of about 2%.

By comparison, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID has killed about 700,000 Americans in the last 18 months and has hospitalized 3 million since August 2020. This is a 1.6% mortality rate (16 times that of influenza) and a hospitalization rate of almost 8%.

However, the COVID vaccine was a breakthrough.

In fact, the data strongly suggest that for people who have been fully vaccinated with COVID, coronavirus has a lower health risk than influenza, at least in terms of hospitalization or death.

Only 4,500 of the 367,000 COVID-19 deaths recorded so far this year in the United States and 19,000 of the more than 1 million hospitalizations in 2021 have been fully vaccinated. ..

However, only half of Michigan’s population is vaccinated. And as a result of the delta mutant, which is now the predominant strain of COVID-19, it is more contagious to the virus, more deadly than ever for those who are not vaccinated or who lack innate immunity. ..

These low immunization rates certainly complicate the transition to a more normal life. Michigan currently has an average of more than 3,200 newly identified COVID cases per day, four times the average of last year.

Think of the vaccine as acting like an umbrella during a storm, and the masking acting like wearing rubber boots. Both help keep you dry, but so far only during heavy rains. This is similar to the current COVID infection rate.

Thus, on the other hand, most fully vaccinated people, even if infected with COVID, will largely resume work and social life with the knowledge that they are likely to have a mild illness comparable to influenza. I can do it.

On the other hand, they are still at risk of getting sick and can infect people around them. This is a major problem, especially for people with unvaccinated household members and those at high risk of serious COVID breakthroughs.

At this point, resuming normal life as a pandemic is like going out during a storm. It’s feasible, but sometimes tricky, and risk tolerance varies widely from person to person.

There are several things to consider when measuring that risk tolerance.

• Are you completely vaccinated? The best defense against COVID is a vaccine. They are not absolutely certain. However, fully vaccinated people are much less likely to get infected, and therefore much less likely to infect others. And even if you get infected, the vaccine is more effective than COVID treatment in preventing virus-related complications.
• What is your risk tolerance for getting sick? According to the latest calculations from the CDC, fully vaccinated people are about one-4.5th more likely to be infected with COVID. Vaccines significantly reduce the risk of getting sick, but they are not zero.
• Is there a serious risk of COVID? The majority of fully vaccinated people who are still suffering from severe COVID fall into three categories: 65 years and older, immunodeficiency, and / or serious health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. In particular, do older people with health problems need to be more careful than young and healthy people?
• Are you closely associated with people who are not vaccinated or are at risk of severe COVID? You may not worry about getting sick. However, if you live with unvaccinated children, the elderly, or people with weakened immunity, you may need to worry about others getting sick.
• What is your social responsibility? flat People with a very low risk of severe COVID should wear a mask in an indoor public place to prevent unintended spread of COVID. “I think you can probably rest assured that vaccination and infection will not cause you to be so ill, especially for young and healthy people,” Petrie said. “But with so many unvaccinated people, there is still a social responsibility to be careful not to get infected and spread to others. This is still sensitive and can be severe. Includes most children with. Results. “
• What is the infection level in the community? This is Link to CDC map It shows the level of COVID infection at the county level. However, even within the county, it is safer to work in an environment where people are more likely to be vaccinated and wear masks.

Why is it fully vaccinated to avoid low-risk activities such as outdoor activities and private indoor meetings where everyone is fully vaccinated, especially if you are young and healthy? No, experts say.

Tricky is in public indoor areas, especially in crowded areas or in restaurants where most people don’t wear masks.

“At this time, we do not recommend opposition to a fully vaccinated indoor diet,” said Linda Bail, head of Ingham County Health Department.

However, those who are worried about COVID will probably want to choose to go out to the restaurant. Choose a restaurant with wide ceilings and tables, and a small, crowded dining room. Other strategies include ensuring that tablemates are also vaccinated. Choose a restaurant where you can dine outdoors. Go outside or take out when the restaurant is less crowded.

“It’s a place where people listen to live music and what’s straining me right now, like a crowded bar,” Bale said. “Restaurant with people away” is much better.

The activities of fully vaccinated people are not a major concern of health authorities at this time. Rather, it is those who have not yet taken the first shot, especially those who have not yet been infected with COVID-19 and lack immunity to the virus, which is developing an increasingly virulent strain.

The country’s latest COVID surge is fueled by unvaccinated people, ignoring other mitigation strategies such as masking in the face of much more contagious Delta variants. ..

“Almost without exception, hospitalization and death from the implementation of this latest COVID was one of the unvaccinated,” said Rosenblat.

“The lesson we’ve learned (from the recent surge) is what we’ve been saying,” Rosenblatt added. “Get vaccinated … I can’t overemphasize it.”

Details of MLive:

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