In a word: No.
Legally, a vaccinated person is not required to share that information with everyone who asks, says Jennifer Piatt, an attorney and research scholar at the Center for Public Health Law and Policy Health. Information may be deeply personal for some people, and they may choose not to share that information openly.
There is no legal requirement that individuals must disclose their vaccination status publicly, Piatt says, or to all interested persons. An individual can set [their] own boundaries with respect to what information they are comfortable sharing with others.
That said, says Piatt, vaccination information may be required in certain situations. For example, schools require information about childhood vaccinations for public safety purposes. In addition, employers generally may be able to ask about vaccine status for safety and planning purposes, barring contrary state or local laws.
really need to get the second shot?
Dr. Anthony Fauci devoted his segment of Friday s White House press briefing to the topic of second doses and summed it up like this: Get vaccinated, and if you re getting a two-dose regimen, make sure you get that second dose.
The good news is that the vast majority of Americans who got the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are going back for their second dose. (Those who got Johnson & Johnson, of course, are home free after one shot.) New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 92% are getting both jabs.
Everybody sees that the stats are not 100%, but that immediately goes out the window and people just think, I ve been vaccinated! says Charlotte Baker, assistant professor of epidemiology at Virginia Tech.
As powerful as these vaccines are, no vaccines offer 100% protection in the real world, Dr. Anthony Fauci pointed out in a press conference this week. So with the virus circulating at high rates in most communities, breakthrough infections shouldn t come as any surprise.
(Once we reach herd immunity and circulation levels drop, breakthrough infections will become even rarer. When was the last time you worried about getting diphtheria or pertussis? The vaccines that prevent them have similar efficacy rates 97% for diphtheria, and a range between 71 and 98% for pertussis as the COVID vaccines.)
Coronavirus Vaccine FAQs: What s Up With Side Effects? Should You Still Double Mask?
at 5:04 pm NPR
Each week, we answer frequently asked questions about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you d like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: Weekly Coronavirus Questions.
So you ve successfully scored a vaccine â navigating your way through your local registration process and sometimes even going on a journey to find a more available supply of immunizations. Congrats! That s amazing news, seriously â especially since not everyone in the world has access to a vaccine right now.