FALSEHOOD #38: Biden falsely claimed that individuals vaccinated for COVID-19 “do not spread the disease to anyone else.”

Biden made this false claim on December 14, 2021, during an interview.

EXPLANATION:  Several studies have disproven this.

At the time, vaccines were believed to significantly reduce the severity of illness, but not eliminate the spread. Biden’s falsehood took place during the spread of the delta variant in the United States. Multiple studies showed that vaccinated people could spread the Delta variant just as much as unvaccinated people.

In November of 2021, Dr. Gunter Kampf of the University of Greifswald wrote, “People who are vaccinated have a lower risk of severe disease but are still a relevant part of the pandemic. It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated… I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.”

SOURCES

Myers, B. (2022, April 17). Opinion: The false ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ motto did lasting harm. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2022/04/17/covid-pandemic-unvaccinated-motto-false-lasting-harm/7320097001/

Brown CM, Vostok J, Johnson H, Burns M, Gharpure R, Sami S, Sabo RT, Hall N, Foreman A, Schubert PL, Gallagher GR, Fink T, Madoff LC, Gabriel SB, MacInnis B, Park DJ, Siddle KJ, Harik V, Arvidson D, Brock-Fisher T, Dunn M, Kearns A, Laney AS. Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Including COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, Associated with Large Public Gatherings – Barnstable County, Massachusetts, July 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021 Aug 6;70(31):1059-1062. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7031e2. PMID: 34351882; PMCID: PMC8367314.

Stobbe, M., Tanner, L., & Marcelo, P. (2021, July 30). Study: Vaccinated people can carry as much virus as others. AP News. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-d9504519a8ae081f785ca012b5ef84d1

Fell, A. (2021, October 19). Viral loads similar between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. UC Davis. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.ucdavis.edu/health/covid-19/news/viral-loads-similar-between-vaccinated-and-unvaccinated-people

Chasmar, J. (2022, January 4). Biden’s ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ narrative falls apart as omicron cases skyrocket. Fox News. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-pandemic-unvaccinated-falls-apart.amp

Sherman, A. (2021, December 22). Biden says that vaccinated people can’t spread COVID-19. That’s not what CDC says. Politifact. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/22/joe-biden/biden-says-vaccinated-people-cant-spread-covid-19-/