Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 January 13

= January 13 =

Can you get COVID after getting the vaccine
Did Representative Primala Jayapal and the 2 other Representatives who tested positive for COVID-19 receive the vaccine before they were recently exposed on January 06, 2021? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.253.78.55 (talk) 14:46, 13 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, you can still get Covid. For details please see COVID-19_vaccine.--Shantavira|feed me 16:16, 13 January 2021 (UTC)


 * And the vaccine certainly does not stop you transmitting it to others, so facemasks and distancing still need to be observed. -- Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  02:30, 14 January 2021 (UTC)


 * 1) Some representatives are known to have received 1 vaccine shot but I don't know if it's known whether Rep. Jayapal and the other two positive testees received it. 2) With 1 shot it is only 50% effective at preventing Covid illness. With 2 shots and a wait, it's 95% effective.  3) it's not known (from the phase 3 trial at least) whether the vaccine is effective at all at preventing infection.  Trial participants apparently didn't get regular testing during the trial, unless they showed symptoms.  So it might be possible to get infected just as easily as before, but the vaccine helps your body handle the infection better, so you don't get sick.  You would still test positive, just like anyone else with an asymptomatic infection.  In that case, though, you can still catch and transmit the virus easily, and unvaccinated people you transmit it to can still get sick.  So the whole masks-and-distancing routine really has to be kept up for quite a long time into the vaccination program.  I'm pessimistic. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:313A (talk) 06:56, 14 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Thank you, Anon, for the above explanations, and for the final warning, too. --CiaPan (talk) 07:50, 14 January 2021 (UTC)


 * For an infected person to be infectious (able to infect others), they need to be shedding virus particles. If so, this means that the virus is replicating. It is extremely plausible that the protection obtained by vaccination comes from a diminished capability of the virus to replicate. While it is better to err on the side of caution, it will be an unexpected outcome of further studies if this diminished replication does not also extend to diminished transmissibility. --Lambiam 10:48, 14 January 2021 (UTC)


 * But that's likely still contingent on having gotten immunized in time, which is something of an unknown given COVID's long lead time. If you got infected on Monday, it's not clear to me at all that getting the vaccine on Wednesday is going to be of any use. Even if the representatives in the OP were vaccinated, they may have been vaccinated after exposure and/or after symptoms started. Matt Deres (talk) 14:29, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I should have made it clear that my contribution considered the case of maximally protected (potential) carriers, which most vaccinees would be when we are "quite a long time into the vaccination program", also in the light of a preceding assertion that "the vaccine certainly does not stop you transmitting it to others". It may be unknown whether being vaccinated with two doses followed by an appropriate waiting time offers protection against being infected, but I submit that it is not certain, and in fact, on a priori grounds, unlikely, that this does not decrease transmission drastically. --Lambiam 22:42, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
 * According to [//www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/12/us-lawmakers-capitol-attack-covid-positive-test-pramila-jayapal-bonnie-watson-coleman], Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman had received the first round of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine (Tozinameran) and were due to received the second round soon. This article [//www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-12/vaccinated-lawmaker-s-infection-leads-to-new-push-on-masking] mentions Brad Schneider had received a vaccine (it doesn't seem to mention which one I think), but only two days before January 6 so it probably wasn't particularly effective. Nil Einne (talk) 16:11, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

There is now evidence from the Israeli vaccination program that the vaccine is somewhat effective at preventing infection and not just illness. On the other hand, there is also evidence that infected people can still spread the virus. I don't plan to quit wearing a mask anytime in the foreseeable future. I like wearing a mask. It makes me feel like a costumed crime fighter. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:313A (talk) 04:42, 17 January 2021 (UTC)