Claim: With the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out currently underway in Zimbabwe, there is a belief that once someone has been vaccinated they are immune to the virus and can no longer transmit it to other people.
CITE contacted Acting Chief Executive Officer for Mpilo Central Hospital, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya who explained that people who have received the vaccine should continue with the World Health Organisation (WHO) preventive measures.
“Yes, people who received the vaccine can still be carriers of the Covid-19 virus. The advice is that they continue like everyone, social distancing, masking, sanitizing because they can still get infected. They can still transmit to other people and infect other people. They may also fall sick and die. It is serious stuff,” said Professor Ngwenya.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently said the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.
“Vaccinated people could potentially still get Covid-19 and spread it to others. However, the benefits of relaxing some measures such as testing and self-quarantine requirements for travelers, post-exposure quarantine requirements, and reducing social isolation may outweigh the residual risk of fully vaccinated people becoming ill with Covid-19 or transmitting the virus to others,” said CDC.
CDC also said the modeling studies suggest that preventive measures such as mask use and social distancing will continue to be important during vaccine implementation.
“However, there are ways to take a balanced approach by allowing vaccinated people to resume some lower-risk activities.”
