Can Vaccinated People Spread the Virus? We Don't Know, Scientists Say.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, suggesting that people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus never become infected or transmit the virus to others.
The assertion called into question the precautions that the agency had urged vaccinated people to take just last month, like wearing masks and gathering only under limited circumstances with unvaccinated people.
“Dr. Walensky spoke broadly during this interview,” an agency spokesperson told The Times. “It’s possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get COVID-19. The evidence isn’t clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence.”
The agency was responding in part to criticism from scientists who noted that current research was far from sufficient to claim that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus.
The data suggest that “it’s much harder for vaccinated people to get infected, but don’t think for one second that they cannot get infected,” said Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh.
It’s especially important that immunized people continue to protect those who have not yet been immunized against the virus, experts said. Vaccinated people should not be throwing away their masks at this point. This pandemic is not over.
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