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Groundbreaking cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated people remain rare (and are generally less severe when they do occur), despite the surge in the hypercontagious Delta variant. The attention these cases are getting in the media, however, is significant.
Reports of COVID-19 cases among vaccinated members of the Chicago Cubs front office, three US senators and a group of people in Provincetown, Massachusetts have shed light on groundbreaking cases and raised questions about continued effectiveness vaccines in the face of the Delta threat.
But vaccines continue to offer strong protection against the most severe forms of the disease.
“We may have given a message that gives the impression that vaccines don’t work very well, which for me can scare the vaccinated and don’t make the unvaccinated think they should get vaccinated,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious. disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, told Yahoo News.
“[Vaccinated] people are really very protected against serious illnesses. … I think we have to be much more positive, ”she added.
See also: “Is the outdoors always safe?” Concerns over Delta prompt new guidelines’
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released three studies that highlight the continued effectiveness of the three vaccines approved in the United States: those produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
According to one of the studies, among around 600,000 cases of COVID-19 recorded in 13 US jurisdictions, there has been some increase in groundbreaking cases since the Delta variant gained dominance in the United States, but that number remains. a very small percentage of the total number of vaccinated. people in the study.
During the period in which the data was collected – between April 4 and July 17 – only 46,312 (8%) cases were reported among fully vaccinated people, compared to 569,142 (92%) of COVID cases -19 in people who were not fully vaccinated. . Hospitalized or fatal COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases also remained rare.
Of the total cases in the study, only 2,976 (or 8 percent) of hospitalizations and 616 (9 percent) of deaths were reported among those fully vaccinated, compared with 34,972 (92 percent) of hospitalizations and 6,132 (91 percent) of deaths among people who were not fully immunized.
Studies confirm that vaccines continue to do what they are supposed to do: protect against serious illness and death. According to the CDC report, unvaccinated people were five times more likely to be infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 10 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated people.
“The result is this,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at a press conference on Friday. “Vaccination works and will protect us from serious complications from COVID-19. “
The recently released data on COVID-19 infections in New York City also matches the findings of the CDC report. According to the New York State Department of Health, of the nearly 1.3 million COVID infections recorded in the state between January 1 and September 5, 2021, only 58,030, or 4%, involved peak infections. On the other hand, unvaccinated people were 21 times more likely to be infected or hospitalized statewide.
Revolutionary cases are to be expected, as no vaccine is “100% effective in preventing the disease,” according to the CDC. Additionally, not everyone is able to develop a robust immune response to injections. This is especially true for those who are immunocompromised, have underlying health conditions, or are 65 years of age or older.
As of August 30, people 65 and older accounted for about 70 percent of the groundbreaking cases reported to the CDC that resulted in hospitalization. This demographic group also accounted for about 87 percent of revolutionary cases resulting in death.
Gandhi told Yahoo News that it is important to know more about these serious cases in people who have been vaccinated in order to better protect them.
“What a lot of people are asking the CDC to do is tell us all the characteristics of these important breakthroughs,” she said. “These are probably the people who are going to need a third shot.”
The good news for most healthy vaccinated people is that vaccines continue to protect them against serious disease, and even a breakthrough infection will result in mild symptoms or none at all.
Experts urge vaccinated Americans to nonetheless continue to follow public health guidelines designed to curb the spread of the virus.
The CDC reported in July that vaccinated people who caught the Delta variant could carry roughly the same viral load in their nose and throat as unvaccinated people. Based on this evidence, the agency revised its masking guidelines, recommending the use of indoor masks – even for those who are vaccinated – in areas of the country with high or high transmission.
But Gandhi said more recent studies seem less alarming because people vaccinated will clear the virus faster, reducing the length of time they are infectious.
“This makes sense because your immune system is going to fight this virus and lower the viral load,” she said.
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