Delta variant: fully vaccinated people may not be highly contagious

A new study suggests that fully vaccinated people may not be as contagious as unvaccinated people infected with the coronavirus.

Do fully vaccinated people spread COVID as much as unvaccinated people?

The preprint study – which was not peer reviewed but was posted on medrxiv – suggested that fully vaccinated people might not spread the coronavirus as much as unvaccinated people.

Specifically, the study said that “rare vaccine break infections occur, but infectious virus shedding is reduced in these cases.”

• The study found that COVID-19 vaccines are very effective in stopping death and serious illness, but revolutionary cases are occurring (although they remain rare).
• Researchers studied 161 breakthrough cases out of 24,706 vaccinated people who were healthcare workers. They found that there was “a lower probability of detecting infectious virus in respiratory samples from vaccinated health workers” compared to unvaccinated health workers.
• The study suggested that 68.6% of breakthrough cases had infectious viral particles. But the number fell within three days of the illness, a sign that those vaccinated could keep the virus for a shorter period of time than unvaccinated people.

Is the delta variant more contagious?

A minor note with this study – the participants were infected with different variants of the coronavirus. The summary suggests that the delta variant has been identified in the majority of cases. It is not known how many other variants were included in the study. But the delta variant has a higher transmissibility than the other variants, which could impact the results.

Are fully vaccinated people contagious with COVID?

The new study comes days after a separate Oxford University study suggested something to the contrary – that fully vaccinated people who are infected with the delta variant of COVID-19 can carry the same amount of viral particles. of coronavirus than unvaccinated people.

According to CBS News, researchers in this Oxford study said that vaccinated people infected with the delta variant could pose a risk to unvaccinated people because vaccinated people contain so many viral particles.

• “With delta, infections occurring after two vaccinations had a peak viral load similar to that of unvaccinated individuals,” the study said, according to CBS News.

This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated people wear face masks again – there was some concern that fully vaccinated people could spread the delta variant to unvaccinated people, which would allow the coronavirus and its variants to spread.

That said, CDC data shows groundbreaking cases of COVID-19 remain rare among fully vaccinated people. To spread the virus, fully vaccinated people would need to be infected with it – which happens at a rare rate, recent data shows. However, some experts have noticed a decrease in the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is why there has been a call for booster shots.