I don’t want to mess up/blend the Vaccine Reluctance thread so starting a new one.
Over the next days, weeks and hopefully not too many months, more and more people will be fully vaccinated (as we understand it today, meaning 2 injections).
In case it is not widely known, experts tell us we should continue to mask, social distance especially in public places and hand wash.
How or WILL your daily routines or extracurriculars change for you? Will there be family or friends you plan to see in person more frequently? Will your work situation change? Will you be booking travel? Will you be shopping in person?
Is there one thing that is your true priority (besides seeing loved ones) or “I can’t wait” activity to eventually return to when vaccinated? (maybe the gym, or the mall or a movie theater)
Answering for myself, I would consider eating at an outside space of a restaurant when the warmer weather returns (have not eaten at a restaurant since March 2020).
I will still limit shopping trips (I think I have enjoyed streamlining shopping experiences) but be open to a little more frequent trips as needed. (besides grocery, I have been in Target 2x and Home Goods 2x since March - little else).
I hope to be able to cross the Canadian border this summer. We have a cottage on Lake Huron that we were unable to visit in 2020. Probably besides very limited seeing of family, this has been our biggest heartache.
Work wise, I expect to be returning to work more days per week. The last several months I was working 2 days in office, since the new year 3-4 days. It has been an option to do this. I foresee that “option” ending before summer since I work in a health care/hospital environment and most people (all people in my department) will be fully vaccinated.
I really foresee masks being routine for a while - definitely through winter 22.
Nothing will change for me until H gets his doses and it will be a while.
Psychologically I will feel safer working though (community based health care and I’ve been in person since late May).
My inlaws are planning on coming to see us after they get their doses. We’re OK with it as H isn’t high risk and I won’t have to quarantine from work now. H is working from home until at least June so he doesn’t have to worry about exposing anyone at the office either.
What will change? Basically nothing. I will still mask and distance, and wash hands often. No plane travel yet. No big party plans.
Why? Because it’s not really an inconvenience to mask and distance and wash hands. With 95% efficacy, and people not being vaccinated at all yet, I’ll wait.
Once we are fully vaccinated, life will go back to normal completely. Of course, we will need to continue to follow rules and restrictions with masks and distancing, but with no fear of infection, we will leave our house and do everything we did before March of last year–dining out, shopping, entertaining, getting together with my mom and friends vaccinated and not. We are surrounded by people like my mom who aren’t worried about COVID, so they they will be happy to see us again, and we won’t worry about the potential for transmission. I’m with @lvvcsf that once the vaccine is freely available, it will be the responsibility of the willfully unvaccinated to limit their exposure. Or not.
First up, though, is travel to see our son. I’m looking forward to that like a kid at Christmas.
My husband gets his first vaccination today! I will probably be in the next group. As soon as we are both fully vaccinated, we will drive to see our new grandD, who is now 6 weeks old!!
I am getting my second dose today. I have not been to the grocery store in a year. I am looking forward to my trip to TJ, Ross, etc. and also planning dinner with my DH in a restaurant on Valentine’s Day. I am looking forward to going for a walk when I don’t have to try to avoid other people sharing the walkway with me. My mom will get her second dose in a week. Looking forward to have her at out table every weekend like it has not happened in a year now.
I’m going to teach my summer class in person, although I suspect we will still have to be masked in the classroom. I’m going to drive to visit my Dad (who will also be vaccinated). I hope that with a vaccine, I won’t have to get a Covid test prior to entering Massachusetts when my D gets married in May.
I already do what the various changing state regulations allow. I am fine with eating in restaurants, for example, under current regulations and limitations. I don’t consciously limit trips to the store; I go when I need to. However, I will certainly feel more comfortable doing so.
My understanding is that we can still get COVID after vaccines, but it will be less severe or maybe asymptomatic. The vaccine does not prevent infection.
And noone knows whether we can transmit the virus, but it would make sense if that was still possible.
So the only change I anticipate is being able to see others who are vaccinated too. I will have to wait awhile to see my kids, but I will be able to see my mother- perhaps. The problem is that 30% of staff at her assisted living are refusing vaccines, so we could still get it from them.
Variants floating around may further change our behavior- backwards.
This is true @compmom that there is still unknown. Just like the thread of “vaccine hesitation” I wanted to get a sense of what people are thinking post-vaccine. As we can already see on this thread those opinions are still a wide range of “doing nothing different than now” to “going back to normal activities fully”.
I hope that this thread will get some caution but hope. Some positivity to some pre-covid routines.
That said, a reminder to all that even after your 2nd vaccine they are recommending a 2 week period for the vaccine to be effective before you resume any activities.
It’ll probably be months before I am able to be vaccinated. Not complaining, but this is one situation where it doesn’t help to be youngish and healthy.
I am really looking forward to being able to cross borders and see my kid.
I don’t think they know yet whether the vaccines are “sterillzing,” meaning they prevent infection, or whether they allow infection but prevent disease, or even allow disease but prevent severe disease.
I would be willing eat start eating out again and seeing my parents. However, I think it will be quite a while before I am vaccinated. My state is slow on the roll out and I assume I will be in the last group to get it. I was hoping my husband would be earlier due to some health issues but currently our state doesn’t’ seem to be prioritizing underlying health issues.
H and I were talking about this this past weekend. I’m going to have to reign him in. He was like “Oh boy! Comicons! Arcades!” I’m like “uh… no.” Thank goodness at least the former won’t be an option, and probably the latter as well. Then he said “what about indoor dining?”
So… I told him that it would likely be a phased re-entry. I could see indoor dining in a casual fast dining place like Panera Bread, Moe’s, etc. assuming social distancing. For a regular sit down dinner, I would need to see our daily case rates fall tremendously before I consider that. And I would start with those places that have been practicing social distancing/curbside pick-up. I will not go back any time soon (if ever) to any of the places that have been packing in people over the last 7 months (looking at you IHOP).
I told him I would start going to more movies with him. He/we have been to a few Tuesday night flashback shows. Several times he’s been the only one. The most people in there (besides us) have been 4. Now I won’t be as scared and I might even go to a weekend matinee if the numbers are down (and judging from the parking lot it should be). Pulp Fiction is playing in mid/end March after we both should be fully vaccinated plus 2 weeks, so I told him that was a date.
I still plan to keep lifting at home, but I might start going to the gym for more cardio. At least I won’t be so paranoid while I’m there, and maybe I’ll stop going on Sundays at 5am though it is nice with nobody there. I have no issues wearing a mask while there nor anywhere else for that matter.
I’m not sure what I’ll do at work - keep the mask on 8 hours/day? Move to a lighter weight mask? Keep the HEPA air purifier or take it home? Again, masks don’t bother me, but I’m not sure it’s all that necessary once I’m fully vaccinated.
I’d like to go visit older S more often, but I’d really like to go see more of DC. The visits can happen, but I don’t see touring any time soon, especially since he’s not vaccinated.
Most of my close family I see regularly have gotten the first shot and scheduled for the second. I’m breathing a sigh of relief! Soon I’ll be eligible and can’t wait. I’ll be much more open to going out and getting back into life. Knowing we won’t always be putting each other at risk is a huge deal.
Remember that it takes two weeks after the second dose to achieve the full effect of the vaccine.
But…I am planning a cross country trip to see my sister whom I haven’t seen in over a year. I will still mask in public and avoid crowds. I hate crowds anyway so this is no burden.
I am hoping that vaccinated people will be able to travel internationally. I have read that some countries are proposing this: Thailand, the Seychelles, Poland and a few others.
copying from the other thread:
I think how your life changes after the vaccine will vary quite a bit. For my husband who is getting his first shot this week (due to health condition), I don’t think it will change much. He will still wear a mask, go out only to the store, etc. Particularly, since I live with him and won’t be getting one any time soon (too young and healthy).
For my daughter who works in health care (but not patient contact), her life will change more. She will go back to riding mas transit, go back to the gym, and finally get a haircut (it has been a year). She won’t be able to socialize with her friends, since none of them will be getting a vaccine soon. She is the biggest worrier in the family, so I think it will also reduce stress (knowing that she and her father are both protected.) This along with getting back to the gym and being able to travel farther (right now she is walking instead of the subway) will be a huge mental health boost for her.
For my father in an assisted living facility, once everybody is vaccinated, his world will change dramatically. He will be able to leave his room again, they will serve food in the dining hall, they will begin social activities again, etc. His level of social interaction which is now zero will be back to normal.
Just saw this “An Oxford study shows that the AstraZeneca vaccine can reduce transmission of Covid-19 by 67 percent after one dose, which can significantly slow down the contagion’s spread.”
Everyone, please keep wearing your masks even after vaccination. Any places that currently require them will continue to require them (I hope) for some time.
