COVID-19 After Fully Vaccination: Are Vaccinated People Just As Contagious As Unvaccinated?
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19? Some recent studies have shown similar peak viral loads in vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated people who contract COVID. The study result has raised some serious concerns for the efficacy of these vaccines in containing and preventing COVID-19 transmission. Now, the questions which are lingering in the minds of the people are How concerned should we be? Are vaccinated people just as contagious as unvaccinated? What does this mean for future plans for reopening?
According to the experts, vaccinated people clear the virus faster, with lower levels of virus overall, and have less time with very high levels of virus present. Therefore, vaccinated people are, on average, likely to be less contagious.
A recent study which was published in the medical journal The Lancet stated that there are no differences in peak viral loads between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The study also showed that only a small decrease in the number of infections in household members between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, suggesting a similar level of infectiousness.
However, we shouldn't fear this analysis too much. The data reported is an imperfect representation of the population, and the measures they used a single swab and RT-PCR test don't provide information about overall viral load over time.
Viral load refers to the amount of virus which is present in an individual's bodily fluids at a given point in time. Scientists can measure this by looking at your blood, or more commonly in COVID, swabs which are usually taken from your nose and throat.
According to the experts, generally, higher viral loads are thought to correspond to a more contagious individual. However, this isn't always clear in reality. For example, some people with COVID who don't have symptoms and have low viral loads transmit more, as they are less likely to follow social distancing, mask-wearing, and stay at home.
Are there any evidences for the same? Experts have stated that the evidence on how viral load relates to the severity of the diseases is mixed. Some studies find no relationship between the amount of virus in swabs and poorer outcomes, but others find an increased death rate with increasing viral load.
In a recent study done by the Lancet, it has been shown that there are similarities in terms of viral load between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. However, the study doesn't provide strong evidence that vaccines don't work to prevent transmission through the population.
Even though the study which was published in the Lancet, specifically collected an even number of vaccinated and unvaccinated infections in order to compare them, this isn't a true representation of the community in Australia. Austria is currently facing a massive surge in COVID-19 breakthrough cases from across the corners. Even as being fully vaccinated reduces the likelihood of catching the COVID virus, there is a surge in the daily numbers of coronavirus breakthrough infections.
While it's difficult to estimate the rate of breakthrough infections accurately, studies have estimated they occur in 0.2% to 4% of people. In reality, this means that for every 100 vaccinated people, somewhere between 0.2 and 4 of them would get COVID.
So, while in the rare instance where a breakthrough infection occurs, there may be a similar viral load and possibly similar infectiousness, there remain much fewer vaccinated people getting COVID.
Importantly, while the Lancet study also showed a similar rate of household transmission between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, there are a number of other studies in different contexts showing decreased transmission through vaccinated people.
It is important to note that even though one may not feel sick, he/she will still have the capacity to spread the virus to a vulnerable person around you. Though if the people in your home are also fully vaccinated, then the risk of transmission drops even further again.
However, there is a good news, a vaccinated person is less likely to get COVID in the first instance, and is less contagious, resulting in significantly less spread of the virus through a highly vaccinated community.
Thus getting the jab against COVID-19 will definitely keep people out of hospital and ICU and will also make them the most important part of the health response in the near future.
(With inputs from Agencies)
