A reminder to would-be recipients of vaccine!

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Health experts in the Kingdom of Bahrain and around the world have warned that it’s not going to be a light switch back to normalcy even if a COVID-19 vaccine is already available to the public. In fact, they recommend people to still wear masks or cloth face covering and practise social distancing, among other important precautionary measures, even after getting the vaccine.

Obviously, with a vaccine now available to citizens and residents at 27 health centres across Bahrain, some people may feel much more confident about not getting the virus. However health experts recommend to people to not abandon all public health measures just because they have been vaccinated. Those fundamentals include: wearing of face masks, maintaining physical distance, avoiding large crowds, doing more outdoor activities and washing hands frequently.

In addition, the protective effect of a vaccine may take at least one month, if not slightly longer, according to health experts. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, the Kingdom will really need to continue its mitigation measures, including wearing masks. Many people have strong feelings about vaccines and may not even take them, which will impact the general population from being immune to COVID-19 and prolong the threat of the pandemic.

Indeed, this is the reason why you should wear a mask. Properly wearing a mask can help keep you safe while navigating the pandemic. While you should continue to wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, avoid touching your face and follow social distancing rules, wearing a mask is an additional step you should also take to stay safe. As we’ve learned throughout this pandemic, the most common way COVID-19 spread is through person-to-person contact.

When an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, they produce respiratory droplets that can travel about six feet and can land in the mouths or noses of those nearby. COVID-19 can also be spread by people who don’t know they have the virus since they aren’t experiencing any symptoms. Because of this, health professionals recommend wearing masks or cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of the virus. In these circumstances, a mask can add an extra layer of protection.

While wearing a mask may not keep you from getting COVID-19, it can help lower the odds. If you’re sick, a mask can help keep your germs from infecting others. If you’re healthy, a mask can help keep respiratory droplets from someone who is sick from landing in your nose and mouth. While we can’t quantify how effective it is to wear a mask, we do know it offers some protection while not wearing one offers none.

In short, we are all at the lowest risk when everyone wears a mask. And remember, social distancing and hand washing are still very important safety precautions too that everyone should follow in addition to facial protection. Studies show that even a distance of three feet significantly decreases the spread of the coronavirus from one person to another. At six feet, the risk decreases even further, at nine feet even further than that.