Do I need to wear a mask even after getting my Covid-19 shot?

India has launched the world's largest vaccination drive against Covid-19. As is the case elsewhere, there are scepticism, rumours and questions surrounding the vaccines, and one such question is whether one can stop wearing a face mask after receiving the vaccine.

Experts around the world largely concur that the answer to the question is a simple "no".

One of the reasons for continuing social distancing measures and compulsory donning of face masks is the uncertainty about whether the vaccine protects its beneficiary from getting infected by the coronavirus or only the symptoms of the disease.

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As a result, it is not known if a vaccinated individual can get reinfected and in the process spread the virus, which usually enters through the nose. The virus, therefore, is only one sneeze or breath away from finding its way to another person.

The point of wearing a mask, after all, is not just to prevent one from getting it, but also ensuring that those around them do not receive it in the event that the said individual is infected.

“A lot of people are thinking that once they get vaccinated, they’re not going to have to wear masks anymore,” said Michal Tal, an immunologist at Stanford University. “It’s really going to be critical for them to know if they have to keep wearing masks because they could still be contagious.”

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The Covid-19 vaccines, which are injected to the bloodstream through the muscles, bear a sharp contrast to mucosal vaccines which target the virus at its entry point, where it is needed the most.

Getting exposed to the virus at the entry point a second time offers higher protection as those antibodies and immune cells that remember the virus rapidly shut down the virus in the nose before it gets a chance to take hold elsewhere in the body.

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Until vaccinations that are injected through the muscles are able to offer protection in the nasal passage and lungs, where respiratory diseases cause maximum damage or development of herd immunity, it is necessary to continue wearing a face mask.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's Covid-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch, Modi reminded people that two doses of vaccine are very important and asked them to continue wearing masks and maintain social distancing even after receiving the jabs.

Modi also asked people to guard against complacency and follow the mantra 'Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi' (referring to vaccines as well as strict compliance with Covid-appropriate behaviour).