A person who has been vaccinated against a coronavirus infection can refuse to wear a mask only after he has developed antibodies. This was announced to TASS by the head of the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamaleya of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Alexander Gintsburg on Saturday, October 10.
“Antibodies to any foreign antigen, in this case to a vaccine, reach a plateau, that is, reach a maximum, after three to four weeks, that is, after 21-28 days. Based on this, if this plateau is enough to protect a person from infection, then, accordingly, you can walk without a mask. But if this level of protection is not achieved, then it is better to wear a mask, ”he said.
Gunzburg said that it is possible to determine the level of antibodies using the appropriate test systems that are already in production, they are produced by some Russian companies. Such test systems determine precisely the level of virus-neutralizing antibodies.
“Not all antibodies that are produced against foreign antigens, namely those antibodies that neutralize the virus accordingly. If they reach a certain level, then the person should feel much more confident and calm in terms of possible non-infection, ”he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Gunzburg said that it is possible to refuse wearing a protective mask after vaccination against COVID-19 only 21 days after the introduction of the second component of the drug and determining the level of antibodies.
In addition, you need to make sure that the patient was in the treatment group and not in the placebo group. Head of the Center. Gamalei advised to determine the level of protective antibodies, and then decide whether to wear a medical mask or not. If the level of antibodies is insufficient, he recommended not to abandon the means of protection.
On August 11, the world’s first coronavirus vaccine was registered in Russia. The drug was developed by the specialists of the Center. N. Gamalei, it was named “Sputnik V”. The Ministry of Health has already announced the launch of the vaccine into production and issued a permit for a post-registration study.
The head of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, said that the fund had received applications from more than 20 countries for the purchase of a billion doses of the domestic vaccine against this infection. According to him, Russia has agreed on the production of vaccines in five countries, the available capacities allow producing 500 million doses per year.
All relevant information on the situation with the coronavirus is available on the websites of stopcoronavirus.rf and accessvsem.rf, as well as by the hashtag #WeV Together. Coronavirus hotline: 8 (800) 2000-112.