Quora Answer: Does It Make a Difference to the Vaccinated if the Unvaccinated are Unmasked?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What difference does it make to vaccinated people if unvaccinated people wear masks or do not wear masks?  What is the concern or biggest worry?”

We are amidst a pandemic.  Being vaccinated does not mean someone is immune to Covid19; they can still be infected.  Being vaccinated means they have a greater immunological resistance; the vaccinated are unlikely to die from it.  Not everybody can be vaccinated.  There are those who have underlying medical conditions, and compromised immune systems due to chronic conditions.  People eligible for vaccination, but are not, are more likely to be infected, and are more likely to pass on the pathogen.  That makes them a risk to the immunocompromised. 

A morphic obligate pathogen such as the Covid19 virus is prone to mutations every several hundred thousand transmissions.  This means if we do not cut down the incidences of transmission of the virus, we are likely to keep getting new variants, and each newer variant will be resistant to previous vaccines.  This means the vaccinated need to keep getting further vaccinations for their immunity to keep up with these variants.  This is part of the rationale for wearing masks, whether people are vaccinated or not.  We need to cut down instances of transmission.