What do we know about vaccinated people getting Covid-19? / The-Ave.US

What do we know about vaccinated people getting Covid-19?

Not much at this point.

Be cautious about reports of infections — and now, a few deaths — among vaccinated people. This subject is ripe for exploitation by anti-vaxxers and others with agendas, so stick with reliable (preferably official) sources, and keep in mind that even in verified cases there are potential loose ends, such as whether the victims were already infected before being vaccinated (which, as we shall see below, is a factor in those reported deaths).

That said, experts acknowledge it’s possible to get infected after being vaccinated, although all three vaccines approved for use in the United States are said to be 100% effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. The question is whether that’s in question, following news reports from Michigan (currently an infection “hot zone”) of 246 cases and 3 deaths among fully vaccinated people. I’ll get into those reports shortly.

On the first point, whether you can still get infected, the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are said to be 95% effective at preventing infection. This means you still have a 5% chance of getting Covid-19 from exposure after being vaccinated. (These are called “breakthrough” cases, i.e. the virus “breaks through” the antibody protection created by the vaccine, like British tanks crashing through German trenches in 1918.) But the overall risk of infection is much lower; and on a vast public scale, that can suppress contagion to where the virus dies out or exists only in isolated pockets.

That’s a huge deal in terms of putting the pandemic behind us, and elevates getting vaccinated from individual choice to citizen duty. (As for anti-vaxxers — who are predominantly Republican men, read that story here — there are draft dodgers in every war, but no one calls them patriots. Anti-vaxxers are antisocial, not patriotic.)

Now for the Michigan reports. The Detroit Free Press reported on Tuesday, April 6, 2021:

“State health officials say 246 fully vaccinated Michiganders contracted coronavirus from January to March, and three have died.”

(Read story here.) Assuming the accuracy of this report — which appears to have originated from a reliable source — just how significant is this?

Nearly 2 million people in that state have been fully vaccinated, according to this source, so 246 cases isn’t surprising, in fact is unexpectedly low (barely over 1/100th of 1%) versus 5%), although of course there may be additional unreported cases. But this report of deaths — the first I’ve heard of — is surprising, in view of claims the vaccines are “100%” preventive of deaths. So let’s take a closer look.

The 246 cases were reported by local health departments. The state health department says, “These cases are undergoing further review to determine if they meet [CDC] criteria for determination of potential breakthrough.” Thus, these are potential, not verified, breakthrough cases. Of the 246, hospitalization data were incomplete for 129, and of the 117 for whom such data was available, 11 were hospitalized.

As for the 3 deaths, they “were all ages 65 and older. Two of them were within three weeks of full vaccination. While the majority of the population develops full immunity within 14 days of completion of their vaccine series, a small proportion appear to take longer to mount a full antibody response. CDC is actively working to better understand the risk characteristics of this group.” From this limited information, these victims may have become infected before vaccine immunity kicked in, so it’s too soon to conclude there have been any post-vaccination deaths.

That really shouldn’t be the issue, anyway. For society, it’s stopping spread and ending the pandemic, so life can return to normal for most people. Based on what we know, the vaccines can do that, if everyone gets vaccinated. For individuals, vaccination greatly reduces the risk of getting infected and eliminates the risk of severe illness and death. So, duty aside, why would anyone in their right mind refuse to be vaccinated? The reported side effects are, at worst, a minor inconvenience. I’ve heard from acquaintances who’ve had no side effects at all.

It’s fair for readers to ask where I stand on getting vaccinated. Answer: In process. I’ve had my first Pfizer shot and will soon get my second shot. After the first, I had a mildly sore arm for less than a day.

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Tags: Coronavirus
Posted 06 Apr 2021 by Roger Rabbit in Health

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