CDC director says data suggests people vaccinated do not carry COVID-19

• CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the data suggests that fully vaccinated people do not carry COVID-19.
• On Monday, the CDC released a study of 4,000 frontline workers that showed mRNA vaccines to be 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections – even the asymptomatic type.
• Walensky also explained the optimism and “impending catastrophe” she feels in the face of the pandemic.
• See more stories on the Insider business page.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky is touting new data from the CDC that suggests people who have been fully vaccinated almost never carry COVID-19.

In an MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow on Monday, Walensky said: “Our data from the CDC today suggests that people vaccinated do not carry the virus, do not get sick and that it is not just in trials. clinical, but also in real world data. “

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Fully vaccinated people almost never test positive for COVID-19

Walensky was referring to a new CDC study of nearly 4,000 frontline workers, some vaccinated and others not, who tested themselves for COVID-19 infections every week between December and March.

Among the fully vaccinated people in the study, only three “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections were detected. In contrast, unvaccinated study participants recorded 161 cases of COVID-19.

In other words, get vaccinated with two injections of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, then allow those vaccines two full weeks to work, almost zeroed all detectable infections – whether they were asymptomatic or not.

The CDC concluded, based on these results, that Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are around 90% effective in preventing real-world COVID-19 infections, even the asymptomatic type.

This is a good sign, because it means that people who have been vaccinated are probably very protective of those around them against the coronavirus.

But, more data is still needed to say it definitively, which is why researchers are currently recruiting thousands of students across the country to learn more about the likelihood of asymptomatic spread of this virus among those vaccinated.

“We hope that in the next five months or so, we will be able to answer the very important question of whether vaccinated people are infected asymptomatically, and if they do, whether they pass the infection on to others. ? The nation’s top infectious disease expert, said at a White House COVID-19 task force briefing on Friday.

Walensky still worries about a fourth outbreak as many Americans are yet to be vaccinated and variants are there

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On MSNBC, Walensky also spoke about the challenges facing the country to emerge from the pandemic.

New, more transmissible virus variants are spreading rapidly, at a time when the majority of young American adults have yet to be vaccinated. Walensky shared his fears of a fourth wave on the horizon this spring.

“We have been so successful in vaccinating the older members of our society that deaths may not be what we would expect from previous outbreaks. It’s also the case, you know, if we don’t see that death toll, the deaths that we’re going to see are among the young, ”Walensky told Maddow. “Obviously we don’t want to see them either.”

Walensky elaborated on the “impending doom” she described in moving remarks yesterday, recalling how dire the pandemic was just a few months ago.

“I’m watching cases go up, I’m watching we have an increased number of hyper-transmissible variants, I’m watching our trip numbers increase,” she said. “I saw what it looks like to anticipate the skyrocketing. You know, we still lose people at the rate of 1,000 deaths a day.

Walensky stressed the renewed importance of getting gunshots quickly now, not only to curb the spread of new variants, hospitalizations and deaths, but also to reduce the potential for lasting effects from COVID-19.

“We know that about 10% of the population who get sick with COVID have long distance syndrome, have symptoms beyond three weeks, heart problems, depression and mental health problems, lung problems , renal failure, clotting, “said Walensky.

Some patients with long-term COVID-19 are now finding that getting the vaccine can help them feel better, after several months of lingering problems.