Jim Geraghty wrote here the other day about the possibility that people who have been vaccinated will still be able to transmit the coronavirus. One danger of emphasizing this possibility is that it could make some people less willing to get vaccinated in the first place. I asked Dr. Céline Gounder, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, about this issue over email. Her response:
If you’ve been vaccinated, you might be protected against the disease but not infection, which means you could get infected and transmit the virus to others. We think and hope the vaccines will also block transmission, but we’ll only know for sure with time and study. In the meantime, each and every person who’s been vaccinated is a win. They’ve been protected against getting the disease, and in the meantime, should wear a mask to protect others, who haven’t been vaccinated yet. I’ll be among the first vaccinated in phase 1a, and I’ll continue to wear a mask.
The more people who take the vaccine, presumably, the less this possibility need concern us.