Coronavirus

What's The Risk Of Going To Church After The Vaccine?

In our series "What's the Risk?" experts weigh in on what risks different scenarios pose for transmitting COVID-19.

What's The Risk Of Going To Church After The Vaccine?
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
SMS

As more people become vaccinated, you might be wondering about the risks of getting sick with COVID-19. 

We asked the experts, what’s the risk of going to church after the vaccine?

Their take: The risk of contracting COVID-19 is medium.

"So church and really many other public places where you could gather crowds are still going to fall in the moderate to high risk categories, they are not recommended activities yet by the CDC," Dr. Kelly Cawcutt, associate medical director of infection control and epidemiology at Nebraska Medical Center, said. 

"Church has a lot of people from a lot of different households [in] close proximity to one another. It's always unfortunate. And everybody singing and praying and doing things that are so necessary for our spiritual lives. But unfortunately, this virus has sinisterly taken advantage of that," Dr. Frank Esper, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, said.  

"Everyone wearing masks decreases that risk. Distancing people further decreases that risk," Dr. Irfan N. Hafiz, infectious disease physician and northwest region chief medical officer at  Northwestern Medicine, said. 

For more answers on what is low-, medium- or high-risk, visit newsy.com/whatstherisk.