Yes, it's still possible to contract the coronavirus if you receive a COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require patients to receive two doses of the vaccine before achieving protection from the virus. Furthermore, it can take between 10 and 14 days for the vaccine to set in.
“That means it’s possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and gets sick,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated.
“This is because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.”
Also, it is important to note that a vaccine is not a cure. The vaccine is 95% effective and does not make patients completely immune to the coronavirus.
“It’s not perfect," Dr. Richard Zimmerman of the University of Pittsburgh said.
As health officials continue to gain a better grasp of the COVID-19 pandemic, the best course of action is still to practice social distancing, wearing face masks and receiving the vaccine when it is available. Over time, the combination of these three measures will likely result in a return to normal life.
“If we have around 80% of people immune to the virus, then we think that’s when the virus will no longer be able to be transmitted,” Nicole Iovine of the University of Florida Health said.
If all goes well, society could enter a post-pandemic normality beginning in the fall.
“Let’s say we get 75 percent, 80 percent of the population vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
“If we do that, if we do it efficiently enough over the second quarter of 2021, by the time we get to the end of the summer, i.e., the third quarter, we may actually have enough herd immunity protecting our society that as we get to the end of 2021, we can approach very much some degree of normality that is close to where we were before.”
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