GRANDMA GOT HER COVID VACCINE, CAN WE VISIT HER?  

Xiaoyan Song, PhD, MBBS, MSc, is the Director of the Infection Control/Epidemiology at Children’s National Hospital and an Investigator in the Children’s National Research Institute.  She asked in the “Rise and Shine” Blog, “Grandma got her COVID vaccine, can we visit her without masks and give her hugs? If not, what precautions should we take?”

It is wonderful that grandma has received her coronavirus vaccine. The vaccination will boost grandma’s strength to fight against the viruses if she comes across them. With the vaccine, grandma is at a much lower risk of becoming sick with COVID-19 and having a serious infection. All of this is great news for the family.

What’s even better news is that grandma doesn’t have to wear a mask when you visit her, as long as everyone visiting is from the same household. If you can ensure that, then you can enjoy a visit to grandma’s house without a mask. 

As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we know the vaccine works, but we are still learning how effective the vaccines are against variants of the virus, how well they keep people from spreading the disease, and how long they can protect people. If there are updates on these questions, we will keep you posted through this site. Please visit us often and reach out to us when you have a question.