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How concerning are post-vaccination covid-19 infections?

2021-07-22T13:00:14.629Z


Amid the increase in COVID-19 infections in the US, Dr. Leana Wen answers questions about infections in vaccinated people.


(CNN) -

Covid-19 infections are on the rise again in the United States.

While more than 99% of deaths occur among the unvaccinated, anecdotal reports abound of fully vaccinated people still testing positive for COVID-19, including several New York Yankees baseball players.

How concerned should vaccinated people be of contracting COVID-19?

If you are vaccinated, can you still pass the coronavirus to other people, such as children who are too young to receive the vaccine?

The most transmissible delta variant changes the equation and what precautions should vaccinated people take?

For some guidance during these uncertain times, we turned to CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen.

Wen is an ER Physician and Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University.

She is also the author of a new book to be published next week, "Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health."

CNN: Can vaccinated people get covid-19?

Dr. Leana Wen:

Yes, they can.

Here's what covid-19 vaccines do: First and foremost, they protect you very well against serious diseases.

That is the key.

This is a disease that has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans and millions of people around the world.

If you receive the vaccine, you know that it is very unlikely that you will become seriously ill to the point of needing to be hospitalized or succumb to the disease.

According to federal health officials, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths are now among the unvaccinated.

That is a true testament to the power of vaccines.

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Vaccines also protect against covid-19 disease, but this protection is not 100%.

With the delta variant, vaccines may be even less effective against mild disease, although they are still effective against severe disease.

  • Time to go back to wearing masks, say experts

That means progressive infections, or infections in people who are fully vaccinated, can and do occur.

CNN: Does it matter if you're in a highly infected community?

Is someone who has already been vaccinated more likely to get an infection?

Wen:

Yes, and that is why what happens around you is important, even if you are fully vaccinated.

The risk is additive.

The vaccine protects you well, but if you are constantly exposed to people who carry the coronavirus, at some point you could have a new infection.

I have used the analogy of a raincoat before.

The vaccine is an excellent raincoat.

If it's in the occasional drizzle, it'll probably be fine.

But if you go from one thunderstorm to another, at some point, you could get wet.

Ricky Martin: Get vaccinated now!

1:02

This is also the reason why we have to see vaccination not just as an individual choice.

Even if you are vaccinated yourself, it is important that the people around you are vaccinated as well.

CNN: Do we know how common post-vaccination infections are or if people who are vaccinated but become infected can pass them on to others?

Wen:

These are really important questions, and unfortunately we don't know the answers. In May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to stop tracking mild infections. They only report cases of post-vaccination infections serious enough to cause hospitalization and death. Many of us in public health have argued that we also need to know the data on mild infections. It is important to know how often they occur and between whom. For example, are they more common in older people and those with compromised immune systems,suggesting that these people may need a booster shot sooner? Do they increase in frequency after a certain point after vaccination and are they more common with one vaccine than another? Do people with post-vaccination infections develop long-term covid?

  • The covid-19 pandemic & quot; is turning into a pandemic of the unvaccinated, says CDC director

Another key question is whether people with post-vaccination infections can transmit COVID-19 and infect other people.

Previous studies found that vaccination also substantially reduced the amount of virus someone exposed to COVID-19 would carry.

That even if they test positive or develop mild symptoms, they are unlikely to infect others.

However, these studies were conducted before the delta variant became the dominant form of the virus in the US The CDC has reported that 83% of cases in the US are now due to the delta variant.

Other research finds that the unvaccinated who are infected with the delta variant carry 1,000 times the amount of virus as people with the original variant.

That calls into question what happens if someone is vaccinated, but infected with the delta variant.

We simply do not know, at this point, how likely it is that a person vaccinated with an infection due to the delta variant will be contagious to others.

Those who do not get vaccinated will be infected, according to infectologist 4:03

CNN: Do the unknowns surrounding the delta variant change your recommendations for vaccinated people who interact with others?

Wen

: I would be very cautious until we have more data. A vaccinated person around other fully vaccinated people is probably quite safe and would not need precautions like masking and distancing. On the other hand, a vaccinated person who is constantly exposed to unvaccinated people, in crowded, closed environments where no one wears masks, could become infected. And even if they don't have symptoms, there is definitely a chance that they are carrying the virus and infecting others.

Until we know more about whether vaccinated people who contract the delta variant can pass it on to others, I urge people to be cautious if living at home with unvaccinated or immunosuppressed family members.

They should consider wearing masks indoors like grocery stores and try to avoid high-risk environments like crowded bars where other people around them are unmasked and have unknown vaccination status.

Biden leaves covid-19 in the hands of science 2:58

CNN: To be clear, would you still recommend vaccines?

Wen:

Of course.

The most important thing that covid-19 vaccines do is protect against hospitalization and death.

They have proven remarkably effective at this, even with the delta variant.

New infections are to be expected, and the more infections that occur among the unvaccinated, the more infections there will be among those vaccinated.

The key to stopping the pandemic is for us to achieve a high enough level of immunity that the virus has nowhere to go.

We can get there, but we all have to do our part and get vaccinated.

The vaccine protects the individual and also protects those around us.

coronavirusCovid-19 United States

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-07-22

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