Vaccine Done Now What?

I've gone back to shopping in stores although I might keep up grocery pickup and ordering from Wal-Mart. I did go out to breakfast at a diner with my friend once. I got my long hair cut.

Being vaccinated does not keep you from catching COVID. My doctor's daughter went to a wedding. The daughter is fully vaccinated and has been since January. There were 30 people at the wedding and they all were supposed to be vaccinated. One couple showed up who had not been vaccinated and the day after the wedding the guy in the couple showed symptoms of having COVID. My doctor's daughter tested positive for COVID but has no symptoms. The groom's father, fully vaccinated, is pretty sick with COVID, and the bride's mother is sick with COVID. Have no idea if they were using masks and social distancing at the wedding.

Masks are no longer required in Texas but businesses can enforce their own rules. We continue to wear masks but haven't been out to eat since being fully vaccinated. However we did eat out before being vaccinated at restaurants at 50% occupancy.

I am fully vaccinated in Texas. Things I have done that I wasn't doing before. I wore a mask for all of this.

1. Went into a grocery store
2. Interior designer came into my house to help us with the window coverings we planned to order last March but didn't due to Covid
3. Went to the doctor's office for a lab test (I would have done before for something urgent but it wasn't).
4. Set up an appointment to get my hair cut and colored (I've been doing it at home for the last 13 months). Stylist is in individual space and has been vaccinated. I will wear mask.
5. Set up appointment to get my permanent makeup (eyes and brows) touched up. Had to cancel a year ago due to Covid. Will wear mask.
6. Doctor's appointment set for a potential elective procedure. Will wear mask.
7. My daughter is visiting me on my birthday on the 25th. I haven't seen her in person in over a year (she lives 4 hours away). She is not vaccinated yet but we are. She is low risk as is everyone in her household. CDC guidelines says we don't have to mask to see her.

Things I have not done yet:

1. Eaten at a restaurant. I would consider eating outdoors but the pollen was too high for awhile.
2. Traveled.
3. Gone where there are large crowds.

I met my also-fully-vaccinated friend for lunch on April 9.  We ate inside.
I haven't bothered to go back to the salon yet.  I'm enjoying my natural color, and I have trimmed a few inches off my hair as the year has gone by.
DH and I are going to Maui on May 4.  Friends and relatives have already gone and come back.  You still need to get a negative Covid test 72 hours prior to flying and you get another test when you arrive.  A bit of a hassle, you need to make an appointment and drive to the airport to get the initial test.  That will be May 1 for us and we are flying out of SFO, which is a bit of a hike there and back just for the test.  Oh well.
DH has gone back to the gym.  Some of his workout is done outside.

Everyone is still wearing masks in public around here except for walking, exercising outside.  I'm in northern/central California.

I just did my weekly grocery shopping.  Our mask mandate goes away on June 15th.  I asked the checker if the store had advised the employees of any policy change.  She said the shoppers would not be required to mask up but the employees would.  Since who knows who has been vaccinated, and the workers are inside all day long with a steady stream of different people, it makes sense.

Everyone is itching to dine out, but staffing is not up to handling the old volume.  So many people quit restaurant/bar work, and I don't know if they are coming back.

DH is having lunch with a former co-worker today and there were three places that were serving lunch.  This is in Los Gatos, a bedroom community of Silicon Valley that has always had a huge number of restaurants to choose from.  More places are serving dinner only.

We want to take a newly engaged couple out to celebrate at a well-know place.  The soonest we could get a res was July 28.

I went out for breakfast on Sunday. The staff had masks but they have put back all of the tables and it was crowded. My friend didn't like that but we stayed.