Why You Must Wear Face Mask Even If You Get Covid-19 Vaccine

Whether it¡¯s the irritation in the nose, or the fogging of glasses -- no one likes wearing masks. But this pandemic has forced us to wear a face mask to safeguard us and others around us from the novel coronavirus, and for good reason.

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However, with the vaccines started rolling out people can¡¯t wait to safeguard themselves and bid ¡®c'est la vie¡¯ to the annoying face masks. But even after getting vaccinated, it is highly recommended that you continue wearing masks as you¡¯re not out of danger just yet.

Developing immunity takes time

Just because you¡¯ve got the vaccine injected into your body doesn¡¯t mean it will instantly make you immune to the novel coronavirus. Our body takes time to develop immunity.

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Vaccines like the ones by Pfizer and Moderna that tout up to 95 percent effectiveness only get that two weeks after administration of the second dose. The timeline depends on how people¡¯s bodies react to the vaccine and your timeline could vary.

We still don¡¯t know how long the immunity would last

The vaccines have just been released to the public and while we know how effective they are, scientists are still trying to figure out how long of protection these vaccines can offer. Some vaccines can protect for three months whereas some feel they can protect up to two years.

Until there is an exact timeline (which will only happen through tests) or until COVID-19 is completely out of the picture, it's best to just keep your face mask on.

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The vaccines aren¡¯t 100 percent effective

The maximum a COVID-19 vaccine is effective is 95 percent, and some are far lower than that. This means that there will still be chances of catching the novel coronavirus, maybe not in the deadly life-threatening avatar, but even a slightly tamed one, (due to the antibodies) but it will impact your health and wellbeing just the same.

You could be the one spreading COVID-19

Just because you¡¯re immune to the novel coronavirus and don¡¯t feel sick, doesn¡¯t mean you cannot be the one spreading it. COVID-19 could stay in your nasal cavity and you could continue spreading it around by sneezing or coughing and putting the lives of others around you at risk, which is why keep wearing face mask.

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There is still research pending on whether people who are immune continue to spread the virus with or without symptoms. Until there is clarity on this, its best to keep your faces covered.

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Herd immunity is still far away

Herd immunity is basically not giving the virus too many ways to spread to those not immune to it. It comes into play when around 50 to 80 percent of the population is vaccinated, or a majority chunk of the population has gotten infected and recovered, generating natural antibodies.

For the former, vaccine makers are already struggling with vaccine production, due to the global demand, so achieving this might take longer than expected.

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