Why lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19 after Capitol riot, despite vaccinations Medical experts explain why members of Congress became infected with COVID-19 despite having received one or two doses of the vaccine. ABC News ABC News

Despite receiving one or two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, multiple members of Congress have tested positive for COVID-19 since the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

While currently available vaccines are highly effective against symptomatic illness, it takes about two weeks after the second dose to offer that high degree of protection, according to infectious disease experts. With some lawmakers exposed shortly after their first or second shot, those experts say it's not surprising they became infected after what's being described as a "superspreader" event.

Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Lou Correa (D-Calif.) have all reported positive test results since Jan. 6.

It is impossible to know exactly when and where these members of Congress became infected, especially since somebody can pick up the virus up to 14 days before getting a positive test. However, experts say that day at the Capitol was likely very risky for viral transmission.

Dr. Simone Wildes, infectious disease physician and ABC News contributor, described the day as “the classic situation that we tell everyone to avoid .... a small space with a lot of people, poor ventilation, not wearing masks."

"We think of that kind of like a superspreader event," Wildes said.

Some of these lawmakers are now blaming their co-workers for risky exposure during the riot, reporting that they sheltered in rooms with multiple Republican lawmakers who refused to wear a mask. ...

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