Those fully vaccinated very unlikely to spread COVID-19, Fauci says

Fully vaccinated people may be a “dead end” to COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says based on research and data, those who are fully vaccinated are very unlikely to spread the virus.

Doctors call this "promising news." As more people get vaccinated the chances of COVID spreading or of us seeing a major outbreak again are low.

For months doctors have warned, those vaccinated could possibly still spread COVID to others who haven’t been vaccinated.

SEE ALSO: 'Breakthrough cases' show fully vaccinated can still get COVID-19 yet no severe illness

This weekend, White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said based on research and data, those fully vaccinated are very unlikely to spread the virus.

"I think Dr. Fauci put it best when he said that a person who’s vaccinated of COVID-19 is really a dead end for the virus meaning that it’s not going to be able to spread beyond that person,” Dr. Wesley Willeford, JCDH Medical Dir. of Disease Control said.

SEE ALSO: New option allows Alabama pediatricians to split Pfizer vaccine doses

Willeford admits stopping the spread of the virus has been one of the biggest challenges.

While those vaccinated are not immune, severe complications are unlikely.

“It prevents hospitalizations really well," Willeford said, "it certainly prevents ICU admissions where you’re incredibly sick and need life support.”

To date, almost 1.3 million Alabamians are fully vaccinated.

State health officer Dr. Scott Harris says it's too early to say if COVID could eventually be wiped out.

"It’s hard to know if the disease will ever go away completely but as long as we have most people vaccinated and if we can get to that point we’re not going to see a large scale outbreak like we’ve had before," Harris said.

Harris says the COVID case numbers have been stable lately, averaging about 200 cases a day which he says is 10 times better than what we've seen in the past.