| In this week's edition of the Covid Q&A, we're doing something a bit different. In hopes of making this very confusing time just a little less so, each week Bloomberg Prognosis picks one question sent in by readers and puts it to experts in the field. This week, however, we decided to instead ask Prognosis reporters and editors what questions they have.
It's a weird time. Everything is suddenly looking a lot more like normal. States are doing away with capacity limits and social distancing requirements. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the vaccinated can basically resume life as it was in February 2020. But we're still in the middle of a pandemic that's killing hundreds of people every day, and a large percentage of Americans, including young kids, still aren't vaccinated. The risks have definitely lessened, but they haven't gone away, and that's created confusion. With that in mind, here are questions from some reporters and editors in the Bloomberg newsroom. First up, one of my own:
I'm vaccinated, but going to a crowded indoor concert or movie theater still seems risky. Is it really safe?
"Safe is a complicated thing, and isn't a binary as much as we might like it to be," says Eric Lofgren, an infectious disease expert at Washington State University. He says the answer depends on your own underlying risks, how many people around you are vaccinated and what the virus is currently doing in your particular part of the country. "The likelihood of a severe infection in someone who is vaccinated is very small, but very small is not zero, and generally I think people are well-served in trying to mitigate what risks they can," he says. Indoor concerts and movies are high-risk settings. There are a lot of people in a closed space for a long period of time, potentially eating and drinking or even singing along to the music. "I might still wait a bit – but it's low enough risk that I wouldn't judge anyone harshly if they decided the opposite," Lofgren says. As for me, I'll probably go with the experts. That means no blockbusters to beat the New York City heat this summer.  Concerts, like this one in Barcelona, are considered a high-risk setting. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg The next question comes from Bloomberg managing editor Crayton Harrison. He wants to know how to handle going places with his kids, who are too young to be vaccinated:
Can we go forward confidently about children's safety in an unmasked, half-vaccinated society?
"This is a thing a lot of people are experiencing right now – both anxiety at a sudden surge in the number of people around you after a year or so of trying to minimize that, and the awkward position where you may be vaccinated but your kids aren't yet," says Lofgren. Covid is typically less dangerous for children, but they still can get sick. With that in mind, Lofgren advises sticking to necessary activities like school or those where you have a better sense of the vaccination status of others, like play dates or family gatherings. "More crowded settings where masking is unlikely to be observed and where you don't know the vaccination status of those around you are still something I'd try to avoid where possible," he says.
Our next question is about Covid-19 booster shots. It comes to us from reporter Polly Mosendz. She asks:
Are there going to be booster shots for sure? When? And will the shot be the same as the initial shots?
That's still up in the air, says David Topham, an immunologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "No final decisions have been made, but it is very likely, and in my opinion prudent, to provide them," Topham says. Boosters are important for two reasons, he says. One is that antibodies tend to wane over time, although evidence is mounting that we retain virus-specific T-cells and memory B-cells that can still protect from severe disease. The other reason for boosters is that as the dominant variants change, we may want shots that target those versions of the virus specifically. Not every expert thinks we'll definitely need boosters, but if we do, it likely won't matter if you get a different shot than the one you originally got. Topham says it may make sense to begin doling out boosters as soon as the fall, when schools are back in session. Our last question from the newsroom comes to us from senior editor Drew Armstrong. While on vacation in a state with low vaccine uptake, he noticed that many people weren't wearing masks indoors, despite signs asking the unvaccinated to do so. He asks: Most people don't wear masks and nobody checks to see if they're vaccinated. How is anybody checking any of this? Sorry Drew, but Topham says there's no good solution. "It's too complicated and expensive to check if everyone has been vaccinated, and the politicians have pretty much decided that vaccine passports or verification will not be required," he says. If you find yourself in a situation like that, Topham suggests that wearing a mask can at least provide a modicum of extra protection and comfort. "It's really all about learning to live with this virus," he says.
Thanks to my colleagues in the newsroom for writing in this week! Next Sunday, we'll be answering the best question we receive again. How are you adjusting to things opening up? What sort of questions are on your mind? We want to hear from you. Write to us at CovidQs@bloomberg.net—Kristen V. Brown | 
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