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