Thought this episode of The Daily which had a focus on kids really gave a good picture of why we need to continue to mask and take precautions for likely all of 2021.
I am in to do so.
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My bff and I plan to eat indoors at a restaurant tomorrow, two weeks after both of us got our second vaccine. I would never have considered that before now. We will put on our masks when we’re not actually eating to protect our servers.
We are in NYC where restaurants are open at 25 percent capacity, going up to 35 percent in another week. Looking forward to outdoor dining as the temps go into the 50s next week! Spring is coming.
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I am on a medication that suppresses my immune system (I receive infusions every six months). There are conflicting studies on the efficacy of the vaccine for people receiving my specific treatment but all of my doctors concur that I should get it. The eligible list in NY only just opened up to me so I contacted my specialist and they said they would like the vaccine timed between 8-12 weeks after my last treatment and with the second does no later than 2 weeks before (some of their patients receive treatments every 3 or 4 months). As luck would have it, I was able to get an appointment within that timeframe. I am not sure if my day to day will change until I know that my son and husband (who both live in the house) have it as well. Even then, we are so far out from enough of the population being vaccinated that I don’t know when I will feel comfortable again. It would be nice to at least take our long postponed trip to DC once the Smithsonian opens again though. I have an Alaskan cruise booked for September 2022 (DH and I). I am starting to think it might just be possible.
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@mlllermomm did they give you any info on risks of reactions to vaccine for those with an autoimmune disorder? (Making an assumption here. PM me if you prefer.)
Everyone in my house except my youngest child will be fully vaccinated including extra time post second dose in a little over two weeks. I wasn’t going to change anything but now thinking spouse and I may go and eat at a restaurant outside once temps are warm enough. I’m really anxious to see transmissibility data once it’s available. Everything I’m reading says vaccinated are unlikely to be vectors esp if taking regular precautions like masking and following CDC guidelines.
Also read that the first 12-15 year old trial should be completed in March and then will take two months to get approved, assuming all goes well. If youngest can be vaccinated by June or July then we will do a modest summer vacation.
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@compmom today I drove my sister to get her first Covid vaccine shot. My sister is 68 years old, a survivor of malignant metastatic melanoma. She is allergic to a lot of things and carries an epi pen. She also is on immune suppressant medication for psoriatic arthritis. She also has Parkinson’s disease. Overall she is in poor health. Both her rheumatologist and her neurologist strongly recommended she get the vaccine as soon as she could.
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Yes, you are correct in your assumption. No, they did not but I had discussed it with my specialist at my last appointment in late December. At that time, there had been no studies done on patients with my condition or who were on my specific treatment. I am on several FB groups for my condition as well as groups for people with other conditions that are on the same medication and it does seem to be a consensus with their physicians that we are all ok to take the vaccine at this point as well as the timeframes they are recommending (both in the US and UK) seeming to all line up with each other.
All of that said, I have concerns about my autoimmune for sure. I have never had a flu shot without severe side effects that sidelined me for at least a week. I have, however, taken the pneumonia shot with no issues so it is not clear to anyone if my immune system overcompensates for the flu shot or if it is just a coincidence. Hopefully, the COVID works out on the better side of that.
Since fully vaccinated 4 weeks ago I have had several indoor dining outings and a flight to visit my parents all in the last 2 weeks. It’s been wonderful 
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My father (77) has rheumatoid arthritis and has a biologic infusion every 6 weeks. So usually is immuno-compromised /suppressed. But a few months ago he got shingles (awful!) and had to stop his infusions. Thankfully the RA did not flare much. But it meant he was poised at the perfect moment to get his vaccine. He is scheduled for his second dose this week and his infusion in another 2-3 weeks bc RA sneaking back up on him. But what great timing to get shingles.
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Bff and I had a lovely meal at a little Mexican taqueria in the financial district here friend lives. We told the manager that we were celebrating our two-weeks-after-vaccine and he asked us about it. Apparently the corporation that owns the restaurant (and others) is offering time off for employees to get vaccinated. We enthusiastically recommended it and he seemed to move from ambivalence to going for it! It’s only been a few weeks that restaurant workers are eligible in NY. We did wear our masks unless we were actually eating or drinking and we tipped very generously.
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Well, H and I may decide to dine outdoors at a very nice restaurant. We both got our vaccines and Thursday will be 2 weeks since the vaccine! Since we are risk adverse, outdoor dining would seem safest and our weather is fine for it.
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@HImom - go for it. Outdoor dining in your neck of the woods is awesome. We had very nice outdoor dinners back in November and looking forward to more when we come back this spring. My tip: go for 5 pm or earlier times on less busy days. The places will be less crowded.
ETA - we stayed and ate in Ko Olina. Roy’s has a great golf course view patio and free parking. If Mina’s is open by now, I highly recommend it, too.
Yeah, we could dine about 4 or 5 and there are very few others choosing to dine at the hour. There’s the original Roy’s which has many outdoor tables under umbrellas. We may ask for seating there. The tables are nicely spread apart.
We can go on a non-busy weekday. Our positivity rate in the state is under 2% and the other day it was 1%!
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I am really aware of the mental therapy that will have to occur for many of us to “eventually” get back to normal activities. I read some of the things people are doing or ready to do and I cannot fathom jumping back into those things yet. My mind conditioned to “stay away” and it is not easy to reverse that.
I may have change of mind when the weather gets nicer but right now, I feel skittish just thinking about being around too many others yet.
I think this will be a serious roadblock - the mental component - for many.
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I listened to an excellent NPR broadcast today about just this topic. The message was sort of…when you are fully vaccinated, you can do some things, particularly with others who have also been fully vaccinated. But it doesn’t mean you can return to doing all the things you did pre-covid…yet.
I am sure this is available as a podcast.
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I have no mental reservations whatsoever about jumping fully back into my pre-COVID life immediately upon full inoculation. It goes without saying that I won’t be able to dine indoors if a restaurant is not serving indoors and, of course, I will continue to mask and social distance as required, but I will move about, travel, shop, dine, and socialize without hesitation or reservations. I enjoy the hermit life but miss grocery shopping in person, dining with and entertaining friends, seeing my mom, and will be making a beeline to GA to see our son the very minute we hit the full inoculation mark. No mental obstacles here.
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A lot might depend on what you have been doing. If one is totally isolated (not working, living alone, having food delivered, no doctor’s appointments, etc), I imagine it will be a whole lot easier to say “Yes, I’m going to lunch IN a restaurant.”
If you’ve been working, grocery shopping, living with your kids, have a dog to walk, talk to your neighbors across the fence, have a personal relationship with the Prime delivery guy, it will be easier to say “Nope, I’m still not ready to go out to lunch or get on a plane even if I’m vaccinated.”
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Whether you are mentally ready or not is not a competition - it’s just a fact. And something to keep in mind when friends or family are asking you to participate in something - or if they are declining to participate in something.
I have extended family members who I think will respect but wonder why I likely won’t host Easter this year even though many (not all) will be vaccinated.
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My bigger mental hurdle is going into restaurants that have been packing people in all along. In the last 2 weeks, H keeps saying that he wants to go to IHOP in the next few weeks - on a week night when it’s not busy. But he wants to have a cup of coffee and dessert. My issue is that IHOP is SO crowded, especially on Sunday mornings. The parking lot is jammed packed. I don’t want to support that. But there are very few places around here where one can sit and get a cup of coffee at night, so I don’t know what I’m going to suggest. I hate coffee, so I’d be just sitting there and either eating dessert (which I avoid on week nights) or looking at him. Yay.
I’m not really in a hurry to eat inside anywhere - except when we go out of town. We like to pop down to the big city an hour away, but now we have to time it so all meals are back at home. It can be a pain. It’d be nice to just sit somewhere to get a fast quick meal.
The thought of big crowds still makes me shudder, but I don’t like them anyway. And fortunately, where I live big crowds aren’t an issue, except for indoor dining. Often at Target, employees outnumber the customers. The mall on it’s busiest day pre-pandemic MIGHT be 25% full and that’s generous. Probably closer to 15-20%.
I think it depends on the person and where you are in the vaccination queue.
Many people I know aren’t thinking about anything but that they are vaccinated and they are let out of lockdown. They are free to travel, see the grandkids and do a version of their pre pandemic lives. We see how many are doing this without being vaccinated, but a vaccine gives them even more assurance.
There are others who are mindful that while they are vaccinated, others aren’t. And they will act accordingly.
But for someone like @ChoatieMom and myself, by the time we are vaccinated (as we are at the end of the queue), we won’t feel bad doing our thing. When everyone who wants a vaccine has access to it, then it will be very different than it is now.
Another thing is your proximity to your loved ones. If your children, grandchildren and parents live close to you and you’ve included them in your Covid bubble, seeing those people doesn’t mean as much as those of us who live far away from our family and haven’t seen them.
It’s really hard for those of us separated from our loved ones. It’s not about our friends and neighbors. It’s not about dining out. Although those things are nice, it’s the purgatory of not seeing the ones nearest and dearest to your heart.
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