SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
QUESTION:
Can you still transmit COVID-19 after receiving the vaccine?
ANSWER:
There was not enough evidence gathered during the clinical trials. Medical professionals still do not know the answer to whether or not you can transmit the virus once you are vaccinated.
SOURCES:
- Dr. Bradley Pollock - Associate Dean in Public Health Sciences UC Davis
- Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Centers for Disease Control
PROCESS:
Viewers texted ABC10 to ask if it was possible to still transmit COVID-19 after receiving the vaccine, so our Verify Team did some digging and asked experts if it was possible.
Dr. Bradley Pollock, Associate Dean in Public Health Sciences at UC Davis, said that 5% of people who get the vaccine will not be immune to the virus.
“If we are lucky enough, it’s 95% effective. So what does that mean? 5% can be affected and transmit it to somebody else and you don’t want to transmit it to grandma and grandpa,” Dr. Pollock said.
Moderna stated that their vaccine is 94% effective, while Pfizer Biotech said theirs is 95% effective. The rest would not be affected by the vaccine and could still transmit and catch the virus.
When it comes to the people who are part of the 95% that the vaccine works on, the CDC did not give a direct answer:
"Experts continue to conduct more studies about the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on severity of illness from COVID-19, as well as its ability to keep people from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19."
John Hopkins also did not have a clear answer:
"The vaccine may prevent you from getting sick, it is unknown at this time if you can still carry and transmit the virus to others."
Both health organizations did not have an answer on whether or not you can transmit COVID-19 if you are vaccinated, but said more research needs to be done.
Dr. Pollock agrees with them that the question has not yet been answered.
“There’s very early preliminary data from the trials that it’s not the case [that you can transmit it] and if you look at past examples of other vaccines and other viruses that would also be true that it’s highly unlikely that would happen," Dr. Pollock said. "But unfortunately it’s a new virus. It’s called a novel virus because it’s new and we don’t know the answer to that.”
So we can Verify, according to our experts, that because there is not enough evidence gathered from the clinical trials, medical professionals still do not know whether or not you can transmit the virus once vaccinated.
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