# Does being fully Covid-vaccinated basically make me the same type of vector as an unvaccinated young child? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 16, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022 "2021-03-16T14:34:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/1 "2021-03-16T14:34:48Z")
We have learned (unless I’m really wrong here) that little kids are not at risk for severe outcomes with Covid, or for getting sick at all, but that they could be potential vectors if they are asymptomatically positive with Covid. That sounds a lot like what my odds will be as a fully vaccinated adult. So I’m drawing the conclusion that the CDC recommendation to wear a mask around unvaccinated people is because I may be a carrier, and by the same token, if I’m unmasked around fully vaccinated people with young kids who are not vaccinated but who are in school or socializing elsewhere, those unmasked kids could pass it to me, and I could pass it to someone else if I am unmasked. Am I following this correctly? Or is it inaccurate to equate my fully vaccinated adult self with a young unvaccinated child? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/2 "2021-03-16T14:45:38Z")
As I understand it, it’s not at all a given that a vaccinated person can still have/spread COVID. Early on, the concern was that there was no evidence that that WASN’T true, which isn’t the same as evidence that it was. Early evidence from Israel suggests the Pfizer vaccine, at least, protects against asymptomatic COVID as well. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/3 "2021-03-16T14:46:16Z")
Your information is a little out of date. Many of the newer variants have been illustrated to be resistant to the vaccines, with levels varying from, “reduced effectiveness” to “complete vaccine failure”. Even pre-vaccines, some people’s immune system recognised the virus, its theorised ome of the reasons the outbreak has not been as bad in parts of S Asia and Africa (thus far) is that SARS-COV2 is similar enough to a recent flu strain that the residents immune system recognised it. You are like the people described. You have immunity of a sort. Not impunity. FFS, wear a mask and social distance. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/4 "2021-03-16T15:32:54Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > FFS, wear a mask and social distance. That is a non-negotiable for me, however I’m trying to understand and draw parallels (if they exist) to make decisions on how to interact with family who have little kids who are social. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/5 "2021-03-16T16:03:41Z")
Why are you interested in parallels with little kids? How does that help? Just look at the data coming out of Israel for how the vaccine works on adults. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/6 "2021-03-16T17:51:00Z")
Have you seen the most recent CDC guidelines? As long as no one is high risk, vaccinated person can interact basically normally (indoors, no mask) with a single non-vaccinated household at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/7 "2021-03-17T06:02:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Many of the newer variants have been illustrated to be resistant to the vaccines, with levels varying from, “reduced effectiveness” to “complete vaccine failure”. I hadn’t heard of a variant that completely escapes current vaccines. Which one is it? ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/8 "2021-03-17T16:29:53Z")
I’d love to know too. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/9 "2021-03-17T22:29:07Z")
I heard today, somewhere (NPR?) that the South African variant (ETA: variant b1351, I guess) completely escapes the Oxford AZ vaccine. I’ll see if I can dig up a cite. I don’t know how it does with other vaccines. ETA: [AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't prevent B1351 COVID in early trial | CIDRAP](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/03/astrazeneca-vaccine-doesnt-prevent-b1351-covid-early-trial) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/10 "2021-03-18T10:39:42Z")
South African variant has shown resistance to most of the vaccines. > **[S. African Variant Challenges Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines](https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210309/s-african-variant-challenges-pfizer-moderna-vaccines)** > > The Pfizer/ and Moderna vaccines don’t work as well against the coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa as they do against the dominant virus strain first seen in United Kingdom, a new study says. A round up of the current state of play. > **[One chart shows how well COVID-19 vaccines work against the 3 most worrisome...](https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-vaccines-efficacy-variants-south-africa-uk-brazil-2021-3)** > > Here's what we know about the most dangerous coronavirus variants and how effective our vaccines are against those strains. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/11 "2021-03-18T14:43:18Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > South African variant has shown resistance to most of the vaccines. Those articles are pretty low information. What does “don’t work as well” mean? How much worse? What are the numbers? They also appear to be looking at antibody levels, which are only part of the body’s immune response. I only see one table, in the Business Insider article, that states “reduced efficacy” on two variants from the J&J vaccine. In the footnote it states that when the variants are included the average efficacy drops from 72% to 66%. They also make no claims of a drop in efficacy with regards to the variants in any of the other vaccines. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-fully-covid-vaccinated-basically-make-me-the-same-type-of-vector-as-an-unvaccinated-young-child/938022/12 "2021-03-23T07:12:04Z")
> [@xanthous](#): > > Am I following this correctly? Or is it inaccurate to equate my fully vaccinated adult self with a young unvaccinated child? It’s unknown. On both sides. Soon after the second dose you should (95% probability or whatever) be fully resistant to transmissive infection, because the second dose should trigger the same kind of immune response as what happens when an asymptomatic infection is cleared, but nobody knows how good that is or how long that will last. Also, you maybe confusing ‘young child’ with ‘child’. It’s been observed that elementary-school age children are partly resistant to COVID, and suggested that it may be due to frequent recent COVID cold infections. Which might have an effect similar to a vaccination. I’m not aware of similar research on "young\* children.