- People should continue to wear masks after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.
- He said there was not enough data yet to be sure that the available vaccines prevent transmission.
- People who have gotten their vaccines in trials are monitored to find out.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday reiterated that people should continue to wear masks after receiving a COVID-19 shot, saying it was not yet certain that the available vaccines would stop people from spreading the coronavirus.
“Even if you are vaccinated, you can still pass the virus on to vulnerable people,” said Fauci, the infectious disease expert and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden. said in a tweet. “Masks are essential until we learn more and significantly reduce infections.”
Clinical studies show that the two US-approved COVID-19 vaccines – one from Moderna and one from Pfizer and BioNTech – are good at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with full protection two weeks after receiving both doses . But we don’t yet know how long vaccine protection lasts or how well they prevent people from spreading the virus.
“Follow-up data is now being collected from vaccine research volunteers,” Fauci said. “If there are significantly fewer asymptomatic infections and a lower virus level in the noses of vaccine recipients, this would indicate a reduced ability to transmit the virus after vaccination.”
Fauci was referring to the two US-approved vaccines, but a recent study reviewed by The Lancet, a leading medical journal, suggested that the COVID-19 vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, reduced transmission in humans without reduce symptoms. However, the study was small and more research is needed.
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 shot, which could get green light from the Food and Drug Administration this month, was good at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 in studies. But again, it is unclear whether it protects against passing the virus on to others.
Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has also said that people should wear two masks to minimize their risk of COVID-19.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has recorded more than 26.6 million coronavirus cases and more than 485,000 COVID-19 deaths.
To date, approximately 35.2 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with more than 6.9 million people fully immunized with two doses.