The New York Times reports on the value of Covid-19 booster shots in preventing hospitalization, particularly for people 50 and older. Still, everyone, including people who have had booster shots are best-off wearing N95 masks whenever indoors and around other people.
The Centers for Disease Control just released new data showing that people with booster shots are much less likely to be hospitalized than people who are not vaccinated. Booster shots are also a good weapon against Covid-19 infection to begin with. But, vaccinated or not, you should not be going without a surgical mask, ideally an N95 mask, when around other people indoors.
People over 50 who have not been vaccinated are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized than people who received two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. The risk of hospitalization for those unvaccinated is 2.5 times greater still than those who had received a booster shot. Unvaccinated adults between the ages of 50 and 64 have a 44 times greater likelihood of being hospitalized than people who had received the booster shot as well.
Risk of hospitalization for the unvaccinated over 65 is even higher than for those under 65. People over 65 have a 49 times higher likelihood of hospitalization than people their age who had received a booster.
Interestingly, getting Covid affords people more protection against the Delta virus than vaccinations, according to the CDC. The CDC has not yet determined the efficacy of booster shots against Omicron and whether getting Omicron delivers more protection than a booster shot.
But, the CDC has now reported that wearing cloth masks offers far less protection than wearing a surgical mask. And, the Washington Post explains why the best mask to wear to protect yourself against Covid-19 is an N95. In short, it fits snugly to your skin around the edges and is made of a material that blocks the novel coronavirus particles from slipping through it with 95 percent efficacy.
Everyone can reduce the risk of getting Covid by using an N95 or KN95 mask instead of a cloth mask. N95 masks are now widely available. If you are buying masks, choose those. The Biden administration is now giving out free masks through community health centers (sometimes called FQHCs) and through participating pharmacies, such as CVS and Walmart. You can visit this CDC webpage to see how to ensure the mask you buy is not counterfeit.
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