COVID-19 vaccines may reduce transmission, experts say, but vaccinated Americans still need to wear masks in public. Here's why.
Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY
Sat, April 3, 2021, 12:49 PM
When COVID-19 vaccinations began, U.S. health officials encouraged vaccinated Americans to continue wearing masks in public because scientists were still unsure if they could carry the virus that causes the disease after being inoculated.
Recent results from real-world studies show the COVID-19 vaccines protect against asymptomatic infection, suggesting they also drastically reduce virus transmission.
But health experts still recommend wearing masks in public, regardless of vaccination status, as more research is needed to confirm whether vaccinated people can spread the virus and as variants become more prevalent in the U.S. and states see cases spikes.
The nuanced messages are understandably confusing, especially to pandemic-fatigued Americans eager to return to normal. As hopeful news continues to emerge, health experts urge people to remain vigilant a little while longer.
“Because vaccinations do dramatically reduce transmission, eventually the CDC will issue new
,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “But it won’t happen until the summer at the earliest, and all this depends on getting the B.1.1.7 variant (first identified in the U.K.) under control and expanding vaccination coverage.”
Preliminary information from Israel found people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine did not develop COVID-19 symptoms or transmit the disease,
“It looks like 90% reduction in asymptomatic transmission. So that’s really good,” Hotez said when the data was made available. Practically speaking, that means the vaccine may enable people to produce antibodies that reduce virus levels in the nose and the mouth, making them less likely to be contagious.
Indoor, small group guidelines:
, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were 90% effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection, including asymptomatic infection, among front-line essential workers.
showing its mRNA vaccine with German partner BioNTech was still more than 90% effective six months after receiving a second dose, even against the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert in infectious diseases, expressed optimism during a White House briefing Friday but added more data is needed to confirm the vaccines' effectiveness on variants.
"So the bottom line message is that vaccines work very well in the real-world setting," he said. "Very, very good reason for everyone to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to you."
While these studies are promising for ending the pandemic, health experts say it's too soon for the nation to ditch masks and return to normal.
