People who’ve received COVID-19 vaccines should continue to wear masks and avoid gatherings, according to experts.
That’s because even though they may be more protected against the virus, they still might be able to transmit it to others, said Atul Gawande, professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Ariadne Labs co-founder, and former COVID-19 adviser to President Biden, in a February 1, 2021 interview on WBUR.
“We’re seeing more and more signs that there is going to be some degree of continued infection in people who are vaccinated, but at low or even asymptomatic levels, which means that they can transmit to other people,” said Gawande. “That’s why we’re going to keep on asking you to wear masks.”
Gawande was also a guest on the January 27 edition of the podcast In the Bubble: From the Frontlines. He discussed his recently finished work on the Biden transition team’s COVID-19 task force, how best to handle vaccines and the schools, and what COVID-19 has taught him about the U.S. health care system, the nation’s politics, and its approach to death and dying.
Also on January 27, Gawande and other experts, including Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases and Biden’s chief medical advisor, discussed COVID-19 vaccines in a PBS Ask the Experts Town Hall.
Listen to or read the WBUR article: Amid COVID-19 Variants, There Is An Increased Urgency For Vaccinations
Listen to the In the Bubble: From the Frontlines podcast: Inside the National COVID-19 Plan (with Atul Gawande)
Watch the PBS Town Hall: COVID Vaccines: Ask the Experts