Sterilizing immunity is typically a function of the presence of neutralizing antibodies. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines trigger an immune response resulting in several times more neutralizing antibodies than a COVID-19 infection; particularly a mild one. Ergo, while it has not been specifically tested thus far, all indications are that this is a sterilizing immunity.
"Having to wear mask after inoculation suggest not."
It doesn't suggest anything of the sort. First, there's no way to track who has actually been vaccinated and who hasn't when people are simply milling about in public. So simply asking everyone to wear a mask in indoor public places - regardless of their vaccination status - makes sense in the short term. Second, without verifiable data about sterilizing immunity, it's worth continuing to wear a mask in indoor public places for the short term until we either establish the level of effectiveness of the vaccines against becoming an asymptomatic carrier or until enough of the public is vaccinated that it no longer matters.
Either way, this whole thing will be over and done with this summer. This is exactly why Biden has already shifted to "climate change".
"If covid can reinfect with limited symptoms, it will never stop being an endemic infection. this is playing Russian roulette waiting for a stronger deadlier virus to emerge. Then what?"
Over 200 vaccine candidates are in various stages of trials. If - by some bizarre circumstance - the two authorized vaccines don't produce sterilizing immunity despite their extremely strong neutralizing antibody response, we'll just have to keep trying others until we find something that works. For now, keeping people out of the hospital or the morgue is a really nice benefit to the vaccines already available.
Sure about sterilizing immunity?
“FACT: Individuals who get the COVID-19 vaccination still need to practice infection prevention precautions. Keep your mask on, and continue staying at least 6 feet from people outside your household, until further notice. Vaccines do not stop the coronavirus from entering your body; they only prevent you from developing moderate to severe COVID-19. It’s not yet clear if people vaccinated for COVID-19 can still carry and transmit the virus, even when they themselves don’t get sick.“
And it won’t be because of the vaccine if they decide to let us out of house arrest.
And the Spanish Flu in 1918 burned itself out in two years with NO vaccine or treatment.