23/11/2021
I found this summary useful to keep us safe coming up to Christmas.
From Bloomberg
How to have a safer holiday season:-
In this week's edition of the Covid Q&A, we look at how to have a safe holiday. In hopes of making this very confusing time just a little less so, each week Bloomberg Prognosis typically picks one question sent in by readers and puts it to experts in the field. This week, though, we have a few Thanksgiving-themed questions from around the newsroom!
It’s shaping up to be a confusing holiday season. Many people are vaccinated, but some still are not. With winter weather and the holidays approaching, Covid-19 cases are once again on the rise in the U.S. and other places around the world. Yet the world has continued to look more and more as it did before the pandemic.
With all these seemingly conflicting variables, it can be tough to know how to celebrate Turkey Day safely. The Bloomberg newsroom put some of our most pressing questions about the upcoming holiday season to experts. First up, a question from me:
Now that many people are vaccinated, is it truly safe to get on planes and trains and resume holiday travel as usual?
For an answer to this one, I turned to Emanuel Goldman, a microbiologist at Rutgers University.
”To the enduring embarrassment of the United States, far from everyone is vaccinated,” he said. “So, we have to go on the presumption that on average, roughly one out of every three adults we see is unvaccinated, with some variation depending on what part of the country you are in.” The more aggressive delta variant, he said, has changed the calculus for vaccinated people and unvaccinated alike. “Even though vaccination still protects against severe disease and death, it's preferable not to take unnecessary risks,” he said. If holiday travel is indeed essential — which it may be for many after a homebound holiday season last year — Goldman said it’s important to mask up. Masks that provide maximum protection like K95s are best.
The holidays are coming back around again in the U.S., and along with them gatherings both intimate and large. Above, a recent Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City.
Photographer: Paul Goguen/Bloomberg
Okay, now on to a question from Bloomberg editor Crayton. He asks:
What's the best way to use rapid tests, if a bunch of family are staying together?
Christopher Martin, a public-health professor at West Virginia University, is here for an answer on this one. “Rapid, or antigen, testing is fast, convenient, and can provide much-needed peace of mind for the holidays,” he said. Still, Martin stresses that these tests are less sensitive than other tests performed in a health care setting, like PCR tests. “Because of this, rapid testing should never replace other measures, which start before the Thanksgiving gathering,” he said. Those with any Covid symptoms should stay home, and it’s also not a bad idea to practice extra caution in daily life before gathering with family, like avoiding crowded indoor places. That aside, Martin said rapid testing isn’t necessary for those who are fully vaccinated and without recent Covid exposure or symptoms. “When performed, rapid testing should be timed as close to and just prior to the gathering as possible,” he said.
For our last question this week, we have one from editor Tim:
A lot of kids who got their first vaccine shot after the recent clearance will have had only one dose by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. Should they wear masks, or will they have enough protection to go without?
“We think of layers of protection like layers of Swiss cheese – each individual layer has holes in it and is not 100% effective by itself,” said Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at University of Illinois. “But if we combine the layers, the protective layers are additive, very effective and work together as a system.” To be considered fully vaccinated, she said, children, like adults, need to be two weeks past their last vaccine dose. “Families should not have a false sense of security that their child is protected from only one shot,” she said. “Since no protection measure is 100% effective, families should incorporate as many layers of protection as possible into their holiday gathering: masks, physical distancing if indoors, outdoor gatherings if possible, participants minimizing exposures in the days before the event, or doing home Covid-19 self-tests in the days leading up to the event.” This is especially key if unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people — including kids — are going to be present at your holiday.
