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CDC Report On COVID-19 Rings Alarm Bells: Viral Load Same In Vaccinated And Unvaccinated People

CDC Report On COVID-19 Rings Alarm Bells: Viral Load Same In Vaccinated And Unvaccinated People

Details of a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could totally muddle current thinking on how the COVID-19 virus spreads in society.

Written by Jahnavi Sarma |Updated : July 31, 2021 1:58 PM IST

COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing serious illness in recipients. There is no doubt about this. But just how effective vaccines are in preventing transmission is a subject that has been debated a lot in scientific communities. It is also a known fact that vaccinated people do carry the virus and can still spread the disease, which is why the stress on precautions is still advised by healthcare professionals. But what was not known till now is about the weight of the viral load in people have been inoculated against the disease. Now the details of a new study released by US health officials have caused alarm bells to go off in scientific communities. The alarming details of the new study could totally muddle current thinking on how the COVID-19 virus spreads in society.

Masks must in indoor public places

According to reports, a new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that vaccinated people who got infected with COVID-19 after receiving the jab or the so-called breakthrough infections carry about the same amount of the disease-causing virus as those who are unvaccinated. The study was published in the CDC's flagship weekly report. Apparently, this the recent recommendations that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in places with high transmission rates, driven now by the delta variant, was based on this report. The report's authors suggest the CDC's new guidance should include masking in indoor public settings "regardless of vaccination status".

Severe disease and deaths are negligible among the vaccinated

Researchers involved in this study came to the conclusions after analysing an outbreak in Provincetown, a popular tourist hotspot in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. After multiple large public events, 469 COVID-19 cases were identified among Massachusetts residents who had travelled to the town during the month of July. Three fourths (74 per cent) of the cases were among fully vaccinated people. According to the report, testing identified the Delta variant in 90 per cent of specimens from 133 patients. It was also noticed that cycle threshold values were similar among specimens from patients who were fully vaccinated and those who were not. But on a positive note, among persons with breakthrough infection, four (1.2 per cent) were hospitalised, and no deaths were reported.

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War has changed, says CDC

The release of this CDC report comes at a time when the Washington Post published details of leaked internal CDC documents. This report paints a grim picture of how the "war has changed" on Covid-19, after the delta variant spread in America. Against this backdrop, speaking to reporters at the White House, US president Joe Biden indicated that new Covid-19 guidelines may now be formulated soon.

5 highlights of the leaked documents

  • The CDC is readying to "acknowledge the war has changed". Its notes indicate that public understanding of breakthrough infections is all over the map. The CDC is still figuring out how to explain to the American people that vaccination reduces risk of death or severe disease 10 fold.
  • The CDC said that new evidence shows that breakthrough infections among those who got their two shots may be as transmissible as those in unvaccinated people.
  • Since January, people who got infected after vaccination make up a larger portion of hospitalisations and deaths among COVID-19 patients. This uptick coincides with the spread of the delta variant.
  • Communication challenges are coming from three directions: Local health departments are questioning vaccine effectiveness, the public is "convinced vaccines no longer work", and that booster doses are needed.
  • The CDC acknowledges that it is struggling to communicate that breakthrough cases are "rare" or a "small percentage" of total cases.

(With inputs from IANS)