What changes in Covid-19 precautions after you’ve been vaccinated?

After a rocky start, marked by significant delays and disorganisation, the vaccination programme in Brazil seems to be finally gaining momentum. In the city of São Paulo, for example, the government expects everyone over the age of 18 to have received their first dose by the 16th of this month.

This is very good news, and the results of this growing immunisation drive are already beginning to show. According to Agência Brasil, as the vaccination programme has progressed, deaths from Covid-19 fell by 46 per cent between March and June this year in the state of São Paulo. During the same period, the number of hospitalised patients fell by 44 per cent.

However, despite this significant improvement, the situation is still far from being under control. And even though some services are resuming in-person operations – which creates an apparent sense of normality – experts warn that it is essential to continue with the main measures to prevent infection and transmission of the virus: wearing face masks, regular hand washing and avoiding crowds.

In other words, although many people can now breathe a little easier because they have been vaccinated, in practice, preventative measures must be maintained for the time being. The reason for this is that, given the size of Brazil’s population – around 210 million people – the number of people who have been vaccinated is still very low and, as a result, the virus continues to circulate very widely. Furthermore, whilst vaccination greatly reduces the likelihood of the disease taking a severe or fatal course, it does not prevent infection or the transmission of the virus.

In England, for example, it was only in May this year that restrictions were eased and pubs and restaurants were able to welcome customers back indoors, whilst cinemas and sports venues were able to resume their activities. And this only happened once two-thirds of adults had already received their first dose of the vaccine and one-third had already received both doses.

Here in Brazil, despite recent progress, only 50,45 per cent of the population have received their first dose of the vaccine and only 21.42 per cent are fully immunised, having received either two doses or a single-dose vaccine. In other words, there is still a long way to go with the vaccination programme here.

In an interview with Radioagência Nacional, Dr David Urbaez, scientific director of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases in the Federal District, stated that even after being vaccinated, people should Wear a face mask at all times, maintain a distance of 2 metres everywhere and avoid any kind of crowd, as well as practising frequent hand and surface hygiene. According to the expert, we will only be able to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus in Brazil and potentially ease restrictions once around 160 million Brazilians have been vaccinated – between 70 and 80 per cent of the population.