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Comment by anonytrary | Hacker News Reader

This is not true, the Pfizer vaccine does not prevent you from carrying the virus and spreading it to others who do not have the vaccine. This is what a medical professional told me who was required to get the vaccine. Their entire department had to get vaccinated (Pfizer, not Moderna) and they are still required to wear masks for this very reason. Do your research.

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> is what a medical professional told me.

> Do your research.

I don't mean this abrasively but, referring to an unknown third party for credibility and then telling people to do their research does not seem overly convincing to me.

Is my conclusion wrong? Best to err on the side of caution -- wear a mask, even if you got the vaccine. Period.

This is the right conclusion, but for the wrong reasons. A vaccine which induces antibodies should prevent spread because it will prevent your body from producing large quantities of the virus and hence prevent viral shedding.

The remaining factors which still require masks are the non-perfect efficiency (~5% of people will still get it), social factors (related to creating two classes of people; the immune and non-immune) and perhaps some others I forgot.

While I think I agree with you high-level, you and GP may be talking past each other when you use “prevent” when you more precisely mean “dramatically reduce [possibly to the point where you effectively prevent]”.

You're right. I also just found out about research (mentioned somewhere downthread) on differences between antibody expression in different tissue types (some IgA subtypes predominantly found in mucosa while other IgG types being dominantly systemic and/or in the lower respiratory system). The discussion there is on a whole other level of precision and points toward a mechanism which might indeed make it possible for vaccinated people to transmit the disease with some degree so it's not quite as clear cut as I presented it.

Though, intuitively, I'd still bet that vaccination will reduce viral shedding and the total load shedded, thus also reducing transmission.

Your tone is somewhat hostile.

As far as I can tell, we just don't know yet. Until we know, some preventative measures would be prudent.

So yes, the scenario you layout is possible. However, it is also possible that it does stop spread.

Even if it's unknown, my advice is still the correct advice, and this is what is recommended by medical professionals. Wear a mask after you got the vaccine.

You cannot say definitively “this is not true”. The advice to wear a mask after vaccination is still the best advice with the data we have, but you made a statement of fact that is currently unknown.

Why do you say not Moderna? Are they not equally effective?

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