Why safety guidelines are still important even after receiving the second vaccine dose
Now is the time that many more people are receiving their second vaccine dose after Riverside County began administering its first doses back in December.
January is when things really kicked off after tier 1 of phase 1b opened up, allowing teachers, seniors and others to receive the vaccine in addition to healthcare workers.
Despite the pathway to full immunization, health experts have advised there is still risk involved considering a majority of the population is not vaccinated.
As of Saturday, 212,636 people received their first dose of the vaccine in Riverside County. A total of 35,699 received their second.
"We’ve gotten more doses lately so we are expanding the number of second doses, appointments that we’re pushing out. We’re trying to catch up, we’re a little behind," said Riverside County Department of Public Health spokesperson, Jose Arballo.
The county has started designating a limited amount of vaccination clinics the receive the second shot.
"I think the advice is that we all wear masks and we keep social distancing because there can be low level infections in people that have received the vaccine. It could be transmitted, that’s the theory," said Eisenhower Health Tennity Emergency Department Medical Director, Dr. Euthym Kontaxis.
Even when people become immunized, they could still become infected, but there is a difference.
"You still can get infected but you don’t have the same reaction to it. In fact your immune system is attacking it quickly and you fight it off right away. What happens, though, is theres still virus in you to some level, some lower level and you can transmit it," said Dr. Kontaxis.
Mask wearing, social distancing and practicing safety guidelines continue to be just as important, especially while being around someone who is at risk.
"If you’re around people that are at risk, you should still be very careful. As far as your own personal safety, yes you are much safer and you can relax a little bit in terms of your mentality, but this isn’t all about how we each are at risk. It’s the community in large so we try to emphasize that people are still careful until we can get a real solid number of patients and people in the community vaccinated," said Dr. Kontaxis.
Meanwhile, second dose vaccination clinics will not be posted on the county's website, according to Arballo. Instead, the information will be in links sent out to people who are due for their second shot