Break-through!

Originally published July 27, 2021, Exit78

Clinical trials for the first two US COVID vaccines showed that both were were over 90% effective at preventing COVID.  It shouldn’t be surprising that there are fully vaccinated people who get COVID – they are in the other 10% or less.  It doesn’t mean the vaccine doesn’t work.  These cases are noteworthy because they are rare.¹

A new study of health care workers in India – not yet peer-reviewed² – shows that of 28,342 vaccinated workers, only 5% developed symptomatic infections, only 83 required hospitalization, and none have yet died.³

In another study, also not yet peer-reviewed, during the study period Delta variants caused 58% of all COVID cases.  There were a “significantly higher rate of breakthrough cases (19.7% compared to 5.8% for all other variants). Importantly, only 6.5% of all COVID-19 cases occurred in fully immunized individuals, and relatively few of these patients required hospitalization. Our genomic and epidemiologic data emphasize that vaccines used in the United States are highly effective in decreasing severe COVID-19 disease, hospitalizations, and deaths.”⁴

Vaccines are the most effective weapon against the pandemic, but they only work if we use them.⁵

1. Baker, S. (Axios 2021, July 22). COVID cases ARE Surging, and it’s not because of “breakthrough” infections. Retrieved July 27, 2021, from https://www.axios.com/covid-pandemic-cases-unvaccinated-vaccines-3d5ac3b0-78fb-473b-ae0b-0f8382d0501b.html
2. Peer review is a lengthy process to certify the results of published scientific work.  COVID is a fast-moving, evolving pandemic, and referencing works not yet peer-reviewed is common.  However, when referencing such works, their peer-review status should be noted.
3. Baker.
4. Musser, James M., Paul A. Christensen, Randall J. Olsen, S. Wesley Long, Sishir Subedi, James J. Davis, Parsa Hodjat, Debbie R. Walley, Jacob C. Kinskey, and Jimmy Gollihar. “Delta Variants OF SARS-COV-2 Cause Significantly INCREASED Vaccine Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases in Houston, Texas.” medRxiv. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, January 1, 2021. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.21260808v1.
5. ibid.