Good Question: I’m vaccinated, now what?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - What’s life going to be like after the COVID-19 vaccine?

That’s the next Good Question. What happens next?

We are hopefully on the way to being fully vaccinated and reaching herd immunity.

However, doctors say it’s important to remember, we are still not there yet.

“We are almost at the finish line, but we’re not there,” a health expert said.

On Wednesday, vaccines opened up to everyone 16 and up in South Carolina. By April 7, vaccines will be open to everyone age 16 and up in North Carolina.

However, being fully-vaccinated doesn’t mean you can just go back to the way things used to be.

It is just a step toward beating this pandemic. Many of the restrictions we’re living under are still in effect.

So, when can we expect things like big gatherings or being able to fly freely?

WBTV’s Alex Giles talked to Dr. Dan Janies, a professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics at UNC Charlotte, on the latest Good Question podcast, which hit the airwaves Wednesday morning.

“What we do know now is that all the current vaccines are excellent at preventing severe COVID-19 disease and death,” Dr. Janies said. “This is the time to seek a vaccine as soon as you are eligible when it’s advised by your physician if you have health concerns about vaccination. So, in theory, we shouldn’t expect some of these pretty restrictive guidelines about travel and big gatherings. We shouldn’t expect those to get loose until we reach that herd immunity threshold.”

Dr. Janies says we may reach herd immunity by the summer.

However, even after those restrictions loosen up, figuring out our approach to masks will be tricky.

It’s going to depend on a lot of things we all have to do.

Listen to more of Alex Giles’s conversation on what it will take to be normal in this week’s Good Question podcast.

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