one take-home message here is do not panic. we do believe vaccines will still provide a good measure of protection, particularly against severe disease, hospitalization and death for most people. if you are somebody who is more vulnerable or just want to be extra sure, i would strong the suggest, at least right now, that you get an extra dose, a booster dose of vaccine, to put your mind at ease but continue to also i ve called them winter layers. make use of all of your winter layers when you re out in public, in indoor settings, wear a mask. try to stick to well-ventilated spaces as much as possible. use rapid testing as we were advocating over the holidays. we still have holidays ahead. they re expensive but they re also a way, if you re able to get your hands on them, to keep your loved ones and yourself safe. this is not back to square one. we still have a lot of potent
get vaccinated. i don t want to pry, but is she okay? she is okay. her oxygen levels are her aunt keeps texting and asking, but she s doing okay fortunately. it s good she has an auntie who knows everything and can tell, you know, tell mom and dad exactly what they should be up to. look, i also want to just quickly ask you about specifically the time line on boosters. if you get your shot until this week, if you didn t get jr. shot until yesterday, what does that mean for you tomorrow? well, it takes about two weeks for the boosters to really kick in to help you have that high antibody level that will provide the extra protection. so you know, no vaccine is going to take immediate effect. you do have to realize that there is a delay, and so again, go back to those winter layers, testing, ventilation, masking and so on, and those really do provide an extra layer of protection in this context.
immunocompromised more vulnerable people. if those kinds of folks are going to be at the gathering, it really does help to provide an additional dose of vaccine to further enhance their protection. you know, and then all the other things that we ve been doing throughout the pandemic that really do remain effective, particularly if you re in an area of high transmission, a covid hot spot, we really do advise layering. you could think of it as your winter layers. other measures like rapid testing, opening windows and doors, doing as much outdoors as the weather allows, buying yourself a hepa filtration unit, and in some settings, for example, if you re going to visit an elderly relative in a nursing home, continuing to wear masks. when you say everybody should be vaccinated at the table, given that kids have only been able to get vaccinated recently and i know people personally who have had trouble getting an appointment to get their kid in to get the shot, what do you say about that?
well, i would call your local department of health and see about getting your kid a vaccine appointment but can they sit at the table with grandma and grandpa tomorrow? yeah, this is a situation where, again, those winter layers are really important. so think of it, you know, in terms of the rapid testing as sort of your first line winter layer. you can get them from cvs, walgreen s, walmart. you can get them online. there s a number of places you can get these. i would be using them at a minimum every other day to screen kids who are not yet vaccinated. i will let you you know, as an example, my little niece who s 2 years old was rapid tested this weekend, came back covid positive, and we re not going to be able to celebrate thanksgiving with my mom and the rest of my family. these are extremely useful tools in these kinds of settings, especially when somebody like a child who s under 5 can t yet