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CLAIM
Harvard study has shown that vaccinated people are “twice as likely to be hospitalized as if they had been naturally exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and then exposed to a Delta variant”
DETAILS
Denature the source: The video inaccurately reports the words of epidemiologist William Hanage, associate professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, in an interview. In fact, Hanage said that “an unvaccinated person with Delta infection is about twice as likely to require hospital treatment as a person infected with the previously dominant variant.” Plus, he actually encouraged vaccination. DePice also incorrectly called the interview, published in a university press article, a “Harvard study.”
KEY TO TAKE AWAY
The Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is more infectious and more likely to cause severe disease than the wild-type (precursor) virus. COVID-19 vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization and death from Delta variant infection, and remain one of our best tools for curbing the spread of the variant, preventing the generation of new variants. and get back to normal life.
FULL CLAIM: A Harvard study showed that vaccinated people are “twice as likely to be hospitalized as if they had been naturally exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and then exposed to a Delta variant”; “Delta variant targets Vaxxers”
MEET AGAIN
July 19, 2021, a video titled “Delta variant target vaxxers” was posted on the TLC4Superteams Facebook group, run by a chiropractic organization. In the video, chiropractor Jen DePice claimed that a Harvard study showed that vaccinated people were “twice as likely to be hospitalized than if they had been naturally exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and then exposed to a variant. Delta”. The video received over 42,000 views on Facebook in less than a day and generated over 2,000 user engagements.
DePice’s source for this claim, provided in a link in the video caption, was a meeting with Guillaume Hanage, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. The interview was published in a university press article.
Reading the interview itself, it’s clear that DePice’s claim is incorrect. First, an interview is not a scientific study. Second, what Hanage actually said was:
“Evidence suggests, for example, that an unvaccinated person with Delta infection is about twice as likely to require hospital treatment than a person infected with the previously dominant variant.”(Emphasis added)
So, Hanage’s statement means the opposite of DePice’s statement. He may have been referring to a study conducted in Scotland and published in mid-June 2021 in The Lancet[1]. He reported that “the risk of COVID-19 hospital admission has been approximately doubled in those with Delta [variant of concern] compared to the Alpha [variant of concern]”.
Therefore, Hanage compared the risk of hospitalization of people not vaccinated with the Delta variant with that of the Alpha variant. This is nothing like DePice’s claim.
In addition, Hanage encouraged vaccination:
“As for my advice: the pandemic is not over. Get vaccinated if you haven’t already. Pay attention to local conditions. If you don’t want to be part of the spread of Delta when it explodes, remember that you can always wear a mask indoors in public places, especially crowded places, and if Delta is exploding in your area. you can still avoid contributing to its spread through physical distancing.”(Emphasis added)
This is because the evidence we have on the Delta variant strongly suggests that people who are vaccinated are less likely to get sick and die from a Delta variant infection. While the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against the Delta variant is slightly lower than that of the wild-type (precursor) virus, they are still very effective against illness and hospitalization. This means that the risk of a vaccinated person getting sick or seriously affected by a Delta variant infection is lower than that of an unvaccinated person. The Delta variant is currently the predominant variant in the UK
Another example can be seen in the United States, which also saw the Delta variant become the predominant variant in the country. By analyzing data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Associated Press reported that 99% of deaths from COVID-19 in June 2021 were in unvaccinated people, suggesting that unvaccinated people are more likely to develop serious illness than vaccinated people. Experts also said Washington post in July 2021 that the Delta variant leads to an increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations among the unvaccinated.
Previous health comments covered a related claim concerning the expiration of the Delta variant according to the vaccination status.
Overall, DePice’s claim misrepresented an interview with an epidemiologist as a study and inaccurately reported what he was saying. His claim that the Delta variant is more deadly for those vaccinated is not supported by scientific evidence and contradicts what we know about the effectiveness of vaccines against the Delta variant.
THE REFERENCES
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