Study Shows Vaccinated People May Not Be Able To Spread Or Carry COVID-19, But They Still Need To Wear A Mask

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says people who are vaccinated do not appear to carry to spread COVID-19. 

According to data from a study released this week, people who have received their Rona vaccine shouldn’t be able to pass along the virus and appear not to be able to carry it. This research includes information from a “real-world” study of vaccinated people, People reports. 

“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,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said on The Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday, reports the outlet. 

The analyzed people included a little under 4,000 first-line workers, like healthcare workers, firefighters, police, and other essential workers, who received one of the two mRNA vaccines between December 14 and March 13. Tests were done on vaccinated people every week for 13 weeks. The survey looked at how effective the vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer were in daily life and outside of a clinical trial, People reports. 

Just one dose of the vaccines showed that the infection risk decreased by 80 percent just after two weeks. With both shots, the risk went down by 90 percent. However, three people did contract the virus out of the 2,479 people tested, which goes along with the vaccine’s efficacy. No one passed away in the study. Despite the promising results, officials say that doesn’t mean vaccinated people should stop wearing their masks, as there is still a risk that they could contract Rona. 

“We can kind of almost see the end,” Walensky said. “We’re vaccinating so fast … And yet on the other side, I’m watching the cases tick up. I’m watching us have increased numbers of hyper-transmissible variants. I’m watching our travel numbers tick up, and the sense is, I have seen what it looks like to anticipate the oncoming surge. And what I really would hate to have happened is to have another oncoming surge just as we’re reaching towards getting so many more people vaccinated.”