According to the current status, vaccinated people are well protected against the Delta variant. But there is increasing evidence that they too can pass on the virus and infect others. An overview.
Vaccination is considered to be the most important means of keeping the coronavirus in check. The more people are vaccinated, the less surface the virus can attack and the more it cannot spread. But the Delta variant plays by its own rules. There is increasing evidence that Delta is also spreading through vaccinated people and that this is far more common than with other variants. This assumption is supported by study results that researchers from Oxford University published on Thursday.
The good news first: people who have been vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer or Astrazeneca are well protected against the Delta variant. However, there are two downsides. On the one hand, the researchers found that the effectiveness is not consistently good, but rather decreases over time. This has been known for a long time. This was observed in Israel, among other places. Certain groups of people in Germany can therefore receive a so-called booster vaccination. (Read more about booster vaccinations here)
In addition, the researchers found that vaccinated people who were infected with Delta also had a viral load that was similar to that of those who had not been vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people are still less likely to get infected, but if an infection does occur, these people can be just as contagious as those who have not been vaccinated.
The clues are increasing
As part of the study, the researchers examined the results of more than three million nasal and throat swabs from adults in Great Britain. The study has so far only been published as a preprint and has not yet been checked by independent experts.
Data from the USA also suggest that some of those vaccinated can transmit the virus. “People who have a Delta virus and happen to have a breakthrough infection can carry really high levels of the virus and unknowingly pass the virus on to others,” said Spektrum, quoting David O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. O’Connor and team conducted a viral load study in June and July with values from 719 people. They also came to the conclusion that vaccinated people can spread the virus. However, it is unclear how large their share in the overall distribution in society is. This study has also not yet been reviewed by independent experts.
In Houston, Texas, a team of researchers took a closer look at the ratio of vaccinated and unvaccinated among Delta cases. The proportion of infected people who were vaccinated was 17 percent and. Almost three times as many vaccination breakthroughs were counted as all other variants combined. There, too, the researchers found comparable viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Further protective measures necessary
No vaccine provides 100 percent protection. Breakthroughs in vaccination are therefore always possible. (Read more about vaccination breakthroughs here) That the risk of infection with the Delta variant could be higher than with other Corona variants despite vaccination, as indicated by an analysis by the “New York Times” with data from seven US States. In the past few weeks, breakthrough infections made up between 18 and 28 percent of reported cases in six of the states, and 6.4 percent in Virginia. The proportion of vaccinated people who had to be treated in hospital because of the infection was between 12 and 24 percent.
The corona vaccination reduces the risk of becoming infected, in most cases it protects against severe courses and deaths. However, every infection carries a risk. Protective measures such as wearing masks remain an important pillar in the fight against the virus for vaccinated people – not only for the individual, but also to avoid infecting others.
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