CLEVELAND, Ohio – Readers have questions about COVID-19 and the coronavirus vaccine, and we’re getting answers from health experts.
Q: Do I need to continue wearing a mask if I have received the coronavirus vaccine?
The short answer is, yes, individuals who have been immunized need to continue wearing masks, as it is still possible to obtain COVID-19 and pass it on to others. Here’s what some local doctors said:
The vaccine does not provide 100% protection against COVID-19. The Modern vaccine is about 94% effective in preventing COVID-19, while the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is 95% effective, according to published reports.
The vaccine takes two to four weeks to start protecting people from the virus, said Dr. David Margolius, internal medicine physician at MetroHealth Systems. During this interval, an immunized person can contract COVID-19.
Immunized people who take COVID-19 and are asymptomatic can still spread the virus, said Dr. Daniel Culver, head of the pulmonary medicine department at the Cleveland Clinic.
The asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 accounts for more than half of all COVID-19 cases, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Almost 60% of all transmission came from people without symptoms, in the model’s baseline scenario. This percentage includes new cases of people who infected others before presenting symptoms and of individuals who never developed symptoms.
The findings of the CDC study emphasize why it is important for everyone to wear a mask, stay socially aloof and wash their hands frequently, even after vaccination. The JAMA Network Open published the findings this month.
Scientists don’t know how long the immunity transmitted by the vaccine will last.
Masks do not offer 100% protection against coronavirus to the user or others around him.
Ideally, everyone could stop wearing masks when 80% to 90% of the population has been immunized, said Margolius. But for now, “the safest thing to do is to wear a mask,” he said.
Do you have questions about the COVID-19 pandemic that you would like an expert to answer? Send it in a brief email to cleveland.com reporter Julie Washington at [email protected].