Editor:
As an IHSS provider I care for people who often have underlying conditions for which COVID-19 could be deadly. I’ve noticed the public confusion over wearing a mask after being vaccinated and it’s put my clients’ lives in danger.
Ted is an older man with dementia and other health conditions. As I was driving up to his home the other day to provide cooking services for him and his disabled wife I noticed he was outside speaking to the mail carrier. Ted never leaves the house except for a doctor’s appointment due to the danger of COVID exposure however, comfortable at his own home he forgot to wear a mask on his way out to pick up the mail. The mail carrier was also unmasked and they were having a very loud and close conversation due to the fact that the truck was still running.
That was 4 days ago and Ted was rushed to the hospital last night with COVID-19. What seems like a harmless and small interaction has become a life threatening situation. Ted got his first COVID vaccination about 14 days before this encounter but he was not protected. There was no protection yet from the vaccination and definitely no protection from the mail carrier who didn’t see the need or maybe the value of wearing a mask.
When I see unmasked people in public I try to believe they are vaccinated and thus it’s not an intentional attack on the lives and health of the rest of us. I hope the mail carrier was vaccinated as he was speaking loudly into Ted’s face. However the CDC still admits at this time a vaccinated person might be able to transmit COVID. We don’t know. Also, last night at the emergency department Ted’s wife was told that the ER has had many visits from COVID-19 positive people who had only one vaccination and stopped wearing their mask because they assumed they were protected.
The CDC says you are unprotected until two weeks after your second vaccination of Pfizer or Moderna or two weeks after a single shot vaccine like Johnson & Johnson. Also, there is a possibly of transmitting the disease even after complete vaccination.
The interchange between the mail carrier and Ted has now affected many people. Now Ted’s wife has been diagnosed with COVID and sickly son an I have been exposed. Although I always wear my mask, the protection isn’t 100%. I also care for three other disabled people and there’s a possibility, although I’m fully vaccinated, I might transmit COVID from Ted’s home to the homes of these other disabled people.
I can’t say for sure Ted caught COVID from the mail carrier but it’s what I saw. He has gone to some recent doctor’s appointments where he was required to wear a mask so it’s doubtful he became infected there. If he came into contact with COVID somewhere other than the conversation with the mail carrier the question then becomes what kind of trouble did he cause the mail carrier and all those people connected to him. Is he now carrying more than just mail from door to door? Is he also delivering COVID-19 to each home? If the mail carrier has a conversation with even two or three people outside their homes each day how quickly will this disease spread to those households?
Where is the consideration for life? Or do people need to be better educated on the danger they’re putting others and themselves in? A simple mask can save lives.
— Wendy Towle, Corning
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April 08, 2021 at 05:44AM
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Letter: A simple mask can save lives - Red Bluff Daily News
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