Thread by @TheFerrariLab

Because it’s 2021 and we have to say the quiet parts out loud:
Vaccinated individuals must still wear masks, distance, and be treated exactly the same as non-vaccinated individuals. This isn’t just about immunity … 1/

The risks of creating a vaccinated/unvaccinated class system are:
1. It would certainly exacerbate existing inequities in access to services
2. It will create incentives for cheating and forgery of vaccine documents
3. It will put the onus on citizens to police that system 2/

If you thought mask confrontations at Starbucks were hard now, imagine when anti-mask Karen is waving about homemade vaccine paperwork drawn in crayon claiming she is immune 3/

Yes, we don’t know enough about immunity. We don’t know if you’re one of the small % who didn’t sero-convert. We don’t know how long your protection lasts. We don’t know efficacy against infection and subsequent transmission. 4/

There are strong scientific reasons for the vaccinated to be held to the same standards as the unvaccinated. But as we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, logistical, operational, and societal challenges are often more intractable. 5/

Requiring the vaccinated to conform to the same societal norms as the unvaccinated (at least for now while coverage is so low) will help to avoid the escalation of problems that may undermine vaccination distribution and the success fo non pharmaceutical interventions. 6/

We need to talk about all the reasons. Just saying “we don’t know enough about immunity”, itself, risks undermining confidence. We understand enough about immunity to be concerned. We understand enough about society to be concerned. 7/

We have enough prior cases-study to know that creating disease or immunity based class systems is a terrible, terrible idea. n/
See a nice introduction to these issues by @alexandraphelan here thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/… and deep consideration in HIV, Ebola literature among others