This article originally appeared in Well+Good.
As the vaccine rollouts continue in the coming months, friends and families are experiencing vaccination discrepancies. Your 70-year-old mom may have gotten her shot, but you didn’t get yours yet. Or maybe because you’re an essential worker, you’ve been vaccinated while most of your friends are still waiting for the next stage. What does that mean for your in-person social life? No matter your vaccination status, you’ll need to remain cautious, says Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
“I have a friend who’s a physician who just got vaccinated, he was about to have his second dose and he said he’s going to go see his mother,” says Dr. Plescia. “His mother has not been vaccinated. She lives in another country. Although he will be vaccinated, he is being very, very careful and will get tested before he goes and he’s going to wear a mask while he’s there with her.”