Immunization

 I don't publish totally off topic comments, and as a rule I don't take requests, but this is important.

It is true that if you are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, your risk of ending up in the hospital is very low, and far lower than if you are not vaccinated. However, it is possible for you to harbor virus in your upper respiratory tract and be infectious to others, although you are much less likely to infect others than an unvaccinated person; and it is also possible that you will get sick enough to be pretty miserable. 

 

Actually I did. I was fully vaccinated in March but 3 weeks ago I suddenly developed the most horrific, wracking bone dry cough I've ever experienced. My eyeballs hurt, my scalp felt like it was coming off, I could barely get off the couch to take a leak, and I didn't eat anything for 36 hours. That's about how long the specific symptoms lasted, but it took me a couple of weeks to get my full wind and stamina back.

So no, if you're vaccinated the pandemic is not over. You still need to take precautions to avoid transmitting the infection and reduce your own risk of having an unpleasant experience. That's why many authorities are recommending returning to universal masking in public indoor settings. I wish I had done it. 

Everybody getting vaccinated is definitely the way out of this, because if that happens we will have R<0 which means the epidemic will be extinguished. But we aren't there yet.  So get vaccinated but don't think that makes you bulletproof. It's not quite that simple.