Your post-vaccine activities safety guide, including gyms, shopping, taking an Uber, and more
Seven experts rank the risk of going to a movie, traveling by plane, taking an Uber, and more.
Getting vaccinated comes as a huge relief. You finally have physical protection against a virus that has haunted us for over a year. Naturally, you’re probably thinking about what you’re going to do first. Once two weeks have passed following your second dose (or one Johnson & Johnson dose), you’re considered fully vaccinated.
At this point, what activities are considered ‘safe’ to resume?
It’s complicated.
While the current COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, no vaccine is perfect, and there are still millions of people who have yet to get their shots. This makes the answers to questions about risk often complex.
The good news: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already started releasing some post-vaccination guidance and is expected to continue to expand on this. So far, they’ve declared it’s safe to hang out with other vaccinated people once you’re fully vaccinated. They’ve also declared it “low-risk” to travel domestically once fully vaccinated. But what about things like going to the gym, the movies, or an outdoor ballgame? Is it really safe to get on an airplane right now?
“With most activities, you’re expanding your bubble, and that’s the whole point of being vaccinated. But we’re seeing variants that have more transmissibility — it takes less virus to get sick, and we’re seeing this in children now, too,” says Meenakshi Bewtra, a Penn Medicine physician and an assistant professor of epidemiology and of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “So you want to think about who could be in that other bubble, including those who may be unvaccinated and considered high risk, and also the fact that although these vaccines are very effective, there’s still the small chance you could get infected.”
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How to assess risk after getting the vaccine
There are a ton of factors that play a role in assessing risk for every situation, and experts don’t all agree on exact risk levels for each post-vaccine activity. But there are two areas that generally aren’t debated:
You’re in a safer position once fully vaccinated.
Still, until more people are protected, we should proceed cautiously to protect both ourselves and others.
So what does this all mean? It means that once you’re fully vaccinated, it’s unlikely you need to be nervous about venturing to the grocery store. But you do need to continue to wear masks and social distance in most public situations. Outdoor activities remain generally preferable to indoor ones. And you should continue to avoid large crowds.
“The good news is, even in the unlikely case where someone gets an infection after a vaccine, their likelihood of a serious infection requiring hospitalization is very low based on the data we have so far,” says Ayiti-Carmel Maharaj-Best, an assistant professor of clinical family medicine and community health at the University of Pennsylvania. “But until we achieve herd immunity, we still have to be vigilant to protect those who have not yet received the vaccine.”
How safe are everyday activities? Experts rank them:
To help guide you further, we asked seven local experts to rank everyday activities from low-risk to high-risk. All rankings assume you’re fully vaccinated and following appropriate precautionary measures, like masking and distancing. One caveat: Risk levels are never clear-cut and will fluctuate depending on what’s going on in your area.
“With any activity, it’s going to be very dependent on how much COVID is in your community and what percentage of your community is also vaccinated,” says Bewtra.
Consider this a starting baseline, and as always, assess your own situation accordingly.
Scale: 1-4; 1. Low-risk 2. Low-to-medium-risk 3. Medium-to-high-risk 4. High-risk
** All rankings assume you’re fully vaccinated and following appropriate precautionary measures, like masking and distancing.
Going to the gym
Average: 2.6 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 4; Lowest score: 2
Going to a group exercise class (indoors)
Average: 3.1 (medium-to-high-risk)
Highest score: 4; Lowest score: 2
Going to a group exercise class (outdoors)
Average: 1.4 (low-risk)
Highest score: 2; Lowest score: 1
Running outside without a mask
Average: 1 (low-risk)
Highest score: 1; Lowest score: 1
Going to a museum
Average: 1.7 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 2; Lowest score: 1
Going to a movie (indoors)
Average: 2.1 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 3; Lowest score: 1
Taking an Uber/taxi
Average: 2.1 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 3; Lowest score: 2
*One expert ranked the risk as 2 with the windows down; 3 with the windows up
Going to church / a place of worship
Average: 2.4 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 3; Lowest score: 2
Going to an outdoor ballgame
Average: 1.9 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 3; Lowest score: 1
Going to a restaurant (indoors)
Average: 3.6 (medium-to-high-risk)
Highest score: 4; Lowest score: 2
Going to a restaurant (outdoors)
Average: 1.4 (low-risk)
Highest score: 2; Lowest score: 1
Grocery shopping
Average: 1.4 (low-risk)
Highest score: 2; Lowest score: 1
Retail shopping
Average: 1.4 (low-risk)
Highest score: 2; Lowest score: 1
Traveling by plane
Average: 2.7 (low-to-medium-risk)
Highest score: 4; Lowest score: 2
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