Can a vaccinated person still spread COVID-19? Studies indicate it’s very unlikely

The COVID-19 vaccines, like the deadly coronavirus itself, are still so new that they have sparked endless questions.

Such as: Can a fully vaccinated person still transmit the virus?

This question is pretty much inseparable from that of whether a fully vaccinated person can get COVID-19.

And, yes, it is still possible to get COVID-19 if you’re fully vaccinated, as comedian Bill Maher found out last week. That’s because no vaccine is 100% effective.

But being vaccinated does make it highly unlikely you’ll get infected. Early studies indicate that so-called “breakthrough cases” come in at somewhere around 0.01%. And if a vaccinated person does get infected, it almost certainly will not be a severe case.

Again, Maher is an example. The “Real Time” host said on Monday that he feels “perfectly fine.” His HBO show, in announcing that the comedian was fully vaccinated and had just tested positive for COVID-19, stated that he’s asymptomatic.

So breakthrough cases do occur but are very rare. And recent studies suggest that transmission of the disease by such vaccinated people is also likely very rare.

Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Health magazine “that if you are fully vaccinated, you are virtually unable to be infected with the virus or serve as a vector of spread.”