Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) Tested positive for COVID-19, but remains asymptomatic after receiving the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, his office said on Friday.
Why it matters: Lynch’s case emphasizes the importance of maintaining social distance and wearing a face mask, even after vaccination.
What they are saying: Lynch received a positive test result on Friday “after a member of the Congressman’s Boston office staff tested positive earlier in the week,” Lynch’s spokeswoman Molly Rose Tarpey said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe.
- “Congressman Lynch received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and subsequently received a negative COVID-19 test before participating in President Biden’s inauguration,” she added.
- Lynch “remains asymptomatic and feels good”, but will remain “quarantined and will vote by proxy in Congress in the coming weeks”.
- It is not clear when Lynch received each dose of the vaccine.
- Lynch’s office did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.
The big picture: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the companies that developed the two vaccines authorized in the U.S., say their vaccines are about 95% effective in preventing disease after receiving the second dose of their respective vaccines.
- “It usually takes a few weeks for the body to develop immunity (protection against the virus that causes COVID-19) after vaccination,” notes the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
- “This means that it is possible that a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 before or shortly after vaccination and still become ill. This is because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection,” adds the CDC.
- It is also unclear how effective the vaccine is against infection and transmission, but researchers say it should prevent people from getting sick.
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