I think the messaging on vaccines and transmission has gotten really muddled. Clinical trials did not test for transmission so we didn’t have hard clinical data. But the absence of that data was taken to mean “maybe you can still pass it on.”
There was never a very persuasive reason to think, as a basic hypothesis, that the virus wouldn’t also interrupt transmission. But being cautious in the face of absent data makes sense.
That said, we’re now getting some initial data on this question and, provisionally, it does appear the Pfizer vaccine *also* blocks transmission at similar rates to which it blocks infection.
As with everything with Covid, science generally moves slowly and cautiously and the virus doesn’t, (nor does the news cycle!) so there are often gaps between what we absolutely know for sure and what seems likely or prudent.
But as consumer of this info, and as a reporter, I am personally pretty bullish on the vaccines blocking transmission and getting us to a point where the virus is quite suppressed.
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