When the world is incurring unbearable losses, COVID-19 vaccines come as a breakthrough to contain the spread of the virus and end the pandemic. And while millions of people in several countries have already been vaccinated, scientists are trying to understand how effective vaccines are, to contain the transmission of the virus. New data from the CDC shows that infections do occur in vaccinated people, but they appear exceptionally rare.
Vaccinated People Do Not Carry Or Transmit The Virus
Based on recent data, the Director of CDC Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said, People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 do not appear to carry or transmit the virus to others. “Vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that is not just in the clinical trials but it’s also in real-world data.”
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If you are fully vaccinated against #COVID19, you can start doing some things again, like gathering indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks. Learn more: https://t.co/FJMon7WlFO. pic.twitter.com/DslBMmrTno
— CDC (@CDCgov) April 21, 2021
Vaccines Primarily Prevent The Disease
With more millions of people already vaccinated in the US and India, the CDC had been sharing guidelines for fully vaccinated people. But the question still remained whether a fully vaccinated individual could develop asymptomatic infection and unknowingly pass the virus along to someone else? CDC had earlier said that vaccines primarily prevent the disease but not necessarily infection. This means not all vaccines prevent fully vaccinated people from transmitting the pathogen to others.
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As more people get #COVID19 vaccinations, recent COVID-NET data show adults over 65 years now make up less than a third of all COVID-19-associated hospitalizations – down from more than half at the beginning of the year. Get vaccinated when you can. More: https://t.co/dTvhftTxuV pic.twitter.com/3y1t2YXI8m
— CDC (@CDCgov) April 23, 2021
Vaccines Cut Down The Chances Of Transmission By 90%
However, a recent study of 3,950 healthcare workers showed promising results. They were tested for COVID weekly for three months and they found that being fully vaccinated decreased infection by 90 percent. None of the vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19 during the 13 weeks of study, which proves that they do not carry the virus.
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Do your part. #WearAMask 😷 & #SlowTheSpread of #COVID19. Make sure your mask fits snugly against the sides of your face w/ no gaps along the sides or top of the mask. More: https://t.co/rjQXPVBQHe. pic.twitter.com/25B5VlFhE2
— CDC (@CDCgov) April 24, 2021
So, how much longer will people who are fully vaccinated have to keep wearing masks? The study data does not mean that vaccinated people can stop wearing masks. There is still a risk that they could get COVID-19, especially when there are several variants of the virus circulating through the country.
First Published: April 27, 2021 11:59 AM