About 13 percent of the world population have already completed their COVID-19 vaccination. Meanwhile, 26.3 percent have received at least one dose.
Experts previously estimated that the herd immunity threshold for coronavirus is in between the range of 65 to 80 percent. But, the world appears to be far from it due to the slow COVID-19 vaccination rate. This is why many countries are trying to pick up the pace.
While the collective efforts continue, top officials believe that the coronavirus has now become a crisis of the unvaccinated population. In the United States, the Director of the CDC has stated that the country is experiencing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” according to the Financial Times.
But, despite this, the agency still has some pointers for vaccinated individuals. CNN reiterated some of them, including especially the guidance around testing and isolating after exposure to the virus.
When to get a test after an exposure
Vaccinated individuals who are not experiencing symptoms after exposure “can refrain” from getting tests and observing quarantine. This is because their infection risks are low, as per the CDC.
But, this does not apply to those people working in a healthcare setting. It includes homeless shelters and correctional facilities. Despite completing the COVID-19 vaccination, tests are necessary even if there are no symptoms.
The publication continued, though, that if not getting a test, vaccinated people should still look for symptoms in the next two weeks. A presence of them “should trigger a test,” whether vaccinated or not, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said.
If infected with coronavirus, what to do and expect
After exposure, resulting in a positive test result, people who previously completed their COVID-19 vaccination should still observe isolation from others. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended isolating for ten days.
As for the things vaccinated individuals should expect, the symptoms may provide discomfort. But, it is reportedly “not likely to progress to hospitalization, and extremely unlikely to lead to death.”
The global COVID-19 vaccination rate
Vaccinated individuals may enjoy some of the activities that unvaccinated ones could not. These include not wearing masks and not observing distancing measures on some occasions, as per the health agency.
With the current figures, however, it appears that only a few can benefit from the guidance. In the U.S., only about 48.2 percent of the population have completed their vaccinations, according to Our World In Data.
As for the global COVID-19 vaccination rate, about 26.3 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Only 13 percent of the total population are fully vaccinated.
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/YouTube