Mask is a must – Even after getting the corona vaccine

 

Novel coronavirus spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets travel into the air during cough, sneeze, talk, shout, or sing by an infected person. These droplets can then land in the mouths or noses of other people who are near an affected person. Face masks, however, can block these droplets. Face masks act as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from reaching others. Studies show that masks reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of USA, the coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2, is transmitted from person to person, like many other respiratory infections. This includes respiratory droplets produced when someone sneezes and inhaled into the lungs of others, and by touching a virus-contaminated surface and using that hand to touch your eyes or mouth. These two ways of entering the virus into our body can be prevented by masks. Stephen Griffin a virologist at the University of Leeds, UK said, "Wearing a mask can reduce the propensity for people to touch their faces, which is a major source of infection without proper hand hygiene."

A mask or face covering can help stop infectious droplets from spreading when a person speaks laughs, coughs, or sneezes and it also stops a person to touch his face or nose. But a question on everyone’s minds is: How long should we wear masks? When can we stop wearing masks? Can we stop wearing them after vaccines are available? The short answer is: not any time soon. Experts say, wearing a mask continues to be important even after a person is a corona vaccinated.

Leana Wen, M.D., an emergency physician and visiting professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told CNN, "The vaccine will protect you from getting ill and then ending up hospitalized. But it's possible that you could still carry the virus and be contagious to others. So those who get the vaccine should still be wearing masks and practicing physical distancing."

Although we look forward to having vaccines available soon, there are numerous reasons we still need to wear masks even after vaccines become available.

Reason 1: It may take months or longer to get vaccinated

Though some Covid-19 vaccine candidates are found to be effective, it could still take a year to reach the general public, according to experts. UK, USA and Canada have already started the Corona vaccination program, but it will not happen overnight. Some of the vaccines require a significant “cold chain” to keep them frozen during transportation and storage, even down to minus 80 degrees Celsius that presents significant challenges for reaching everyone who needs a vaccine.

Reason 2: Tough to know who has or hasn’t been vaccinated

If vaccine may be available in any community but it is tough to know who becomes vaccinated or not. Again, it is impossible to vaccinate everyone at the same time. If someone takes a vaccine but he/she requires one or more shots to provide maximum protection, meaning he/she has to get another shot after a certain period. For example, the first coronavirus vaccines in the world require two shots; Pfizer’s second dose comes three weeks after the first and Moderna’s comes after four weeks.

Reason 3: Vaccines’ effectiveness is not ensured 100% percent

No vaccine is 100% effective, a small percentage of people are not protected after vaccination and for others, the protection may wane over time. Only some vaccines generate lifetime immunity for most people, such as the ones for measles, a viral infection that naturally produces lifelong immunity. It is not yet known whether the Corona vaccines protect people from infection entirely, or just from symptoms. It is not also yet clear how much protection vaccines might give in terms of stopping people from spreading coronavirus.

Reason 4: Duration of vaccine protection is still unknown

Corona vaccines are being produced in record lowest time, and much is still unknown about their long-term effects, much remains unanswered. That is, once vaccinated, how long it [the vaccine] lasts, still unanswered. How long each manufacturer’s Corona vaccine will remain effective in the body is not yet known. It may still take months to years to fully understand the long-term effectiveness of the Corona vaccines.

Reason 5: After vaccination, antibodies will not go instantly to the nose

In most respiratory infections, including the new coronavirus, the nose is the main port of entry. The corona vaccines, in contrast, are injected deep into the muscles and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This appears to be enough protection to keep the vaccinated person from getting ill. Some of those antibodies will circulate in the blood to the nasal mucosa and stand guard there, but it’s not clear how much of the antibody pool can be mobilized, or how quickly it reaches the nose. That gap means there's a period when a person with the vaccine could become infected or could take in the virus and pass it to others.

Reason 6: Chances of re-infection

For some viruses, the first infection can provide lifelong immunity but in the case of coronavirus there is still a chance of re-infection, experts say. On 24 April WHO mentioned, "there is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection." That is the persons who have been infected with Covid-19 develop a protective antibody - but it isn’t clear how long the protection lasts. Scientists also say, even with a Corona vaccine, there's a chance one could develop the infection again.

Reason 7: Chances of unavailability of vaccine

The People’s Vaccine Alliance said, at least 90% of people in 67 low-income countries stand little chance of getting vaccinated against covid-19 in 2021 because wealthy nations have reserved more than they need, and developers will not share their intellectual property. Again, the leading vaccines use several different technologies, such as mRNA, recombinant protein, and adenoviruses. Each of these has its own complex manufacturing process, meaning the vaccines take a long time to make. It could take three to four years to produce enough vaccines to immunize the global population, the researchers found.

So, it is obvious that people of low-income countries or even the people of rich countries who are being vaccinated need to wear a mask until all people will get the Corona vaccine or until a herd immunity will be developed.

Mask is compulsory in Bangladesh

The government has made it compulsory to wear a mask in Bangladesh since last July. In Bangladesh wearing a mask has been recommended in crowded places such as restaurants, educational institutions, comparatively enclosed situations such as in vehicles for transportation. Then 'No Mask No Service' and 'No Mask No Entry' programs have been launched by the Govt. And mobile courts are being run to ensure everyone wearing a mask. Even then, the rate of wearing masks on the face of the people of Bangladesh is not promising.

And in this winter, there is a strong risk of coronavirus attacks in an additional and potentially deadlier peril in Bangladesh. And so, the government of Bangladesh has decided to take stricter measures to ensure that people wear a mask in public places.

Not vaccine versus mask: Need both

The world has already entered the era of corona vaccination. On December 5, Russia became the first country in the world to launch the Corona vaccination program by starting vaccination with their invented Sputnik V vaccine. Then on December, 8 Corona vaccination started in the UK with the Pfizer-BioNTech invented Corona vaccine. And the USA and Canada began the vaccination drive against coronavirus with Pfizer-BioNTech doses on 14 December 2020.

Bangladesh also expects to receive the first Covid-19 vaccines by the first quarter of 2021. Bangladesh government has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Serum Institute of India and Bangladesh's Beximco Pharmaceuticals to get 30 million doses of the vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca. Bangladesh also expects to get 68 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, a public-private global health partnership.

Before vaccination, it is obvious that all must wear mask to protect themselves from Covid-19. Again, the question comes whether we need to wear mask after vaccination. The answer to the mask vs. vaccine question is “both”; face coverings will remain essential in risky settings well into next year, even when Corona vaccine shots become widely available. That is 2020 case to keep masking is obvious; as there won't be enough vaccines this rear. Drugmakers are scrambling to manufacture vaccine shots, and leading vaccine candidates require two doses, and early supply won't match massive demand. The notion of wearing a mask post-vaccination may be harder to swallow.

Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of US, said “wearing face masks may be more effective at protecting against Covid-19 than a vaccine.” George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and director of the Prevention and Public Health Group at UC San Francisco, said the CDC director is "completely right."

George Rutherford also said a large proportion of the population — about 60 or 70% — would need to get vaccinated in order to achieve something close to herd immunity. "Once you're vaccinated... you're probably pretty safe. Now, if we're still walking around with lots of transmission going on, among people who didn't get vaccinated, you may need to wear a mask as well."

Therefore, it can be said that until one gets vaccinated or even after vaccination (until everyone gets vaccinated), to avoid the risk of corona, everyone must wear a mask on their face when walking outside. Otherwise, it will not be so helpful. Lack of public awareness about masks may be one of the reasons why Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Bangladesh these days. Let’s use masks all the time when walking outside and encourage others to wear masks. If everyone is not accustomed to the mask-culture, then no one will be saved.


The writer is a Pharmacist and Doctoral Researcher at Massey University, New Zealand.