I’ll be getting my second Pfizer dose in 2 weeks, and have booked a trip to visit family in Massachusetts in early May, first time I’ll have seen them in over a year (and first time on an airplane since pandemic began). My parents are divorced and remarried, so I’ll visit two locations, maybe three if my mom wants me to drive her to New Jersey to see her sister, whom she hasn’t seen in almost 2 years. Everyone in my family will have been fully vaccinated, but even so, I’ve decided to limit visits to parents/stepparents, brother/sister in law, and possibly mom’s sister and niece. I’ll visit with other aunts & uncles & cousins, and friends, another time, when hopefully we are closer to herd immunity.
To be determined is what I/we will feel comfortable doing when I’m there. Definitely yes: visiting the family members mentioned, at home, without masks; visiting museum(s) (with masks and other protocols, of course); eating at a restaurant outdoors (if it’s warm enough - ha!). Other than one or two museum visits, I don’t expect we’ll be out and about in public INDOORS (shopping, dining, whatever).
I decided not to worry about my flights to/from California. I just booked the flights most convenient for me, even though that means a layover and change of planes on the flight out. I’ll wear an N95 mask, and plan to keep it on as much as possible, only lowering for a quick sip of water or maybe to scarf down an energy bar. I won’t be lowering it to slowly sip on a cup of coffee!
Yesterday we went on our first strictly recreational paid outing to see the cherry trees at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Masks were required even though it was all outdoors (except for the open air gift shop) and people were 95% compliant. Social distancing was posted but not really possible on most of the paths, but it looked like they were only allowing a certain number at a time so not too bad. Being fully vaccinated was a freeing feeling.
The way I see it, after being fully vaccinated, but before general availability:
Can do private gatherings with other fully vaccinated people. Adding one household of unvaccinated people may be ok unless you are really worried about breakthrough infections (which may be more of a concern with the very elderly or otherwise very high risk to begin with).
Can be less paranoid about exposures (e.g. riding in a car or mass transit with someone else, or any work or other activity that requires being in person near others), mask quality, surface contamination, etc. with respect to own risk, though still may want to avoid higher risk situations like crowded indoor public situations (again, the very elderly or otherwise very high risk people may still want to be more cautious).
Continue practicing social distancing and masking as needed in public, since other people will not necessarily have had a chance to get vaccine or know that you are vaccinated.
I have such a disconnect. My social media feed for the last couple of months has been filled with people traveling to FL or other locations, and a few sites I follow have been full of people asking questions like “What should I pack for a trip in April to XYZ” etc etc. It’s like half of the population either doesn’t read the papers/news sources, or chooses to ignore them. Or more likely just is comfortable rolling the dice that they won’t get or spread COVID.
It’s infuriating to me as I have not been away for well over a year, and not eaten in a restaurant etc. It’s getting old, but just because I am tired of it doesn’t mean the virus respects that.
I don’t plan on changing my routine once I’m fully vaccinated. But I’m a bit of an introvert anyway! By the time I’m fully vaccinated, all in my immediate family of parents, siblings and kids will be vaccinated. My mom turns 80 in August so we will be able to have a gathering but it will just be family, at most 16 people.
The only thing I am definitely doing is getting on a plane at the end of May to fly to San Diego for my oldest child’s college graduation. That was the main reason I wanted to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible. I know plenty of people have been flying w/o being vaccinated, but with flights getting back to more normal capacity, I would not have wanted to get on a plane without being fully vaccinated. So now dh and I are very excited to be able to go.
Exactly. I am amazed by the changes in behavior that I am seeing by those around me. People I trusted to be careful are acting as if the pandemic is over since they have received their second shot.
The problem I am experiencing is that I am not eligible for 13 more days and I do worry that I will end up paying the price for other people forgetting that we aren’t all clear.
Lots of people stopped being careful even before vaccine availability (to them, or anyone). We saw what happened in November and December.
Note also that eligibility does not necessarily mean that vaccine is available. If you are in an area of high vaccine enthusiasm and low vaccine refusal, you may find that readily available appointments are at least a month or two out, or in distant areas with higher vaccine refusal. Or you can try refreshing web sites frequently and hope to jump on a spot that opens up due to cancellation.
I had to run into the grocery store quickly today. There were a lot more unmasked and improperly masked people than there have been in a long time. A sign on the entrance said everyone needed to be masked to come in, but absolutely no one was doing anything about it. I’d wager a lot of money that the vast majority without masks had no vaccine shots yet. They’re just “done.”
It makes me really thankful we’re in the process of getting ours (all of us who live here) and thinking I can skip going inside the grocery store for a few more weeks. Cases are going up quickly in our local area. I was glad to be in and out in about 10 minutes.
After we’re all as protected as we can be, I’ll at least feel safer going out and about. We might even eat inside a restaurant. Time will tell. We’ve been ok with Take Out over the past year.
You are absolutely correct that many people abandoned cautious behavior months ago. I am experiencing older family members who I have tried so hard to protect suddenly acting as if all is fine and forgetting that I am not vaccinated. It’s frustrating me to a new level, I think, which is why I seem to be venting on the internet
I have checked every morning for the last week in CA and it seems like there are as many appointments available in my area as there were before 50+ opened up. I am very confident that I will get my shot quickly. I don’t care how far I have to drive. I’ll follow rules and wait till the 15th, but I will be somewhere in the golden state on the 15th getting a shot!
I decided to go to Costco today; only my second trip on over a year. My husband was the designated Costco shopper, and only went during senior hour. I was responsible for the weekly grocery store once we decided to drop Instacart in August. I decided to just go up and down almost every aisle to see what was there, and what I “thought” I had to have! I actually did not buy anything I hadn’t plan to buy, and that is unusual for me.
While there, I ran into the wife of a cousin; we don’t really keep in touch, but prior to the pandemic, we might see each other maybe once a year. It was so nice to just stop, talk and catch up; it felt so normal other than the mask on our faces. Hopefully this will become the norm.
Another thing along the lines of being able to be less paranoid about oneself after vaccination: being able to go to health care (including dentist, optometrist, etc.) without feeling as if one has to dash in and out as quickly as possible to minimize any potential virus from other patients in the office at the same time, or wanting to delay any needed health care due to virus risk.
Absolutely, my husband has held off an eye appointment. He will schedule that appointment now. His glasses are practically falling apart.
For some reason, medical care has been more important to me. I was willing to go to the dentist. I think my husband was happier pushing those things off than I was.
I am up to date with my doctor’s appts and personal grooming appts now. My mother (on the same day) went to BBB, Home Depot and a grocery store. She thought she was living large. She also hired a cleaning lady recently.
This weekend I am going to D2’s place for dinner, going to D1’s place to stay over to help with her baby, and tomorrow night I am going to friend’s house for the Easter dinner. I am limiting gatherings to one household per CDC’s recommendations for now, but I am still not that comfortable at eating indoor.
My kids are getting together indoor without masks now because they are vaccinated.
We are doing the Oldfort plan. Indoors only with one other fully vaccinated family. We are glad spring is coming with warmer weather. We actually like the nice outdoor patio dining being offered around here!
DD (fully vaccinated) came over yesterday. Since travel is now on the OK list, we are hoping to see DS…sooner than later. We will also be driving to Ohio to see my family (all fully vaccinated) and DH will go visit his mom (also fully vaccinated).
^^^ This. I’m also looking forward to the day when every topic in conversation doesn’t eventually circle back to something COVID-related. I’m kind of tired of talking about it…
Yesterday afternoon H,S19 and I snagged appts for the J+J vaccine 3 hours away and are road tripping there today. I want to go out ballroom dancing with H when we are fully vaccinated. I spent a lot of time last night chasing leads to find a vaccine. D21 doesn’t turn 18 for a few days so she can not vaccinate with us so I can focus my attention on finding a vaccine for her now.
On my last video conference everybody immediately noticed how my post-vaccine routine changed, without a single word from me. The instant my camera turned on, several people exclaimed “You got a haircut!”
I had to tell them that my mullet for the past 12 months was entirely involuntary
