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Scientists and, finally, the general public fear that COVID-19 vaccines may no longer work as well. But researchers at the University of California at San Diego may have discovered why.
Why is the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine worsening?
UCSD researchers recently published a letter explaining why COVID-19 vaccines may decrease over time, according to NBC San Diego.
Researchers have identified two main reasons:
- The delta variant started to increase in the summer.
- The United States has relaxed masking and restrictions.
The researchers published the letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. They monitored how well the vaccine protected UCSD healthcare workers, particularly looking at when the highly contagious delta variant began to rise.
- The research team found that the vaccine’s effectiveness stops symptomatic COVID-19 infection by 90%. In July, that number fell to 65%, reports NBC San Diego.
Dr Nancy Binkin, one of the study’s authors and professor of epidemiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said a number of factors made the vaccine less effective.
- “The dramatic change in vaccine effectiveness from June to July is likely due to a combination of factors,” Binkin said. “This is the emergence of the delta variant and the decline in immunity over time, compounded by the end of broad masking requirements and the resulting increased risk of exposure throughout the community.”
Is immunity to COVID decreasing?
That said, some scientists are wondering if the vaccine and immunity really decline in people who are vaccinated. Experts have told the New York Times that immunity may drop, but the drop hasn’t been as dramatic as we think.
Scientists told the New York Times that there was not enough data on the side effects of booster shots, or whether booster shots are needed for everyone.
- “There’s a big difference between needing another injection every six months and every five years,” Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist Dr. David Dowdy told The New York Times. “So far, looking at the data we have, I don’t see a lot of evidence that we’ve reached this point yet.”
Deepta Bhattacharya, a bioimmunologist at the University of Arizona, recently told NPR that reports of declining immunity could also be exaggerated.
- “If you get a high dose of delta, as the variant often gives, the virus can pass the initial wall of antibodies,” he told NPR. “So I think we can see signs of that. But the (level of breakthrough infections) is probably not as dramatic as I think it is. “
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