JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you’re able to get vaccinated for COVID-19, doctors say you’ll still need to wear a mask.
That’s because even though the vaccine will likely protect you, it’s not clear if it will keep you from potentially spreading the virus to others.
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Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s trials only tracked vaccinated people who became sick with COVID-19 — not the possibility that some who were vaccinated might have gotten infected without developing symptoms.
Mask wearing will be encouraged for the long haul even with a vaccine coming soon. While it’s highly effective at preventing vaccinated individuals from catching the virus, that’s not necessarily the case for anyone else they have contact with.
“They did not take these 40,000 people and periodically test them if they were feeling fine just to see if they had a symptomatic disease, and we know that asymptomatic (COVID-19) does exist,” Dr. Melanie Swift with the Mayo Clinic said.
Once again, the message from health experts remains unchanged: even with the arrival of the vaccine, experts recommend that people should consider the health of others around them, particularly those who are at higher risk because of their age of underlying health conditions.
“We can’t rip off our mask just because we’ve had our vaccines until we know for sure if that means we’re not getting asymptomatic disease that we can spread,” Dr. Swift said. “And then the other thing we don’t know is how long the protection (provided by the vaccine) will last.”
Studies have shown that people diagnosed with COVID-19 have the antibodies for roughly three or four months. After that, it’s recommended that people get the vaccine if they’re eligible to receive it.
More information is coming on the potential of asymptomatic spreading even with the vaccine.
Last month, AstraZeneca said volunteers had been testing themselves regularly for the virus. Pfizer is doing a sample of its trial participants for antibodies to see if they’ve ever become infected with the virus, and Moderna is doing the same thing. It’s expected to take several weeks before results are available.