The Vaccine Doesn't Necessarily Stop You Spreading Covid-19
Every Monday, we’ll answer your questions on Covid-19 and health in a feature published online. You can submit a question here.
This week, HuffPost UK reader Lyn asked: “If I get the vaccine can I still transmit the virus to others?”
There are many unknowns when it comes to the various vaccines that have been created to fight Covid-19 – and one of those is whether such vaccines can reduce transmission or not. The short answer is: we simply don’t know yet.
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, recently told a press conference that true herd immunity will only occur if we have vaccines that can reduce transmission between people. At the moment, we don’t know if they do.
We know the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can reduce severe illness from the virus, but less is known about its ability to stop people spreading the virus to others. There are murmurings that such vaccines should have *some* effect on transmission.
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Both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines reduce the incidence of symptomatic infection and so are “likely” to reduce the R value and contribute to an overall reduction in transmission, Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in medicine at University of East Anglia, previously told HuffPost UK. But we don’t know this for certain and further data is needed.
A press release from Oxford/AstraZeneca states there was an early indication that its vaccine – when given as a half dose, then a full dose – could reduce virus transmission. This was evidenced by lower rates of asymptomatic infection in those who were vaccinated. It’s generally agreed that the risk of spreading Covid-19 is lower in asymptomatic people than those with symptoms.
A Pfizer spokesperson tells HuffPost UK the matter of immunity after vaccination is a question the company continues to explore in its research – and this will ultimately help them better understand transmission.
