Evidence Mounts That People With Breakthrough Infections Can Spread Delta Easily
A new study finds that this dominant variant can grow in the noses of vaccinated people as strongly as in unvaccinated people.
A preliminary study has shown that in the case of a breakthrough infection, the Delta variant is able to grow in the noses of vaccinated people to the same degree as if they were not vaccinated at all. The virus that grows is just as infectious as that in unvaccinated people, meaning vaccinated people can transmit the virus and infect others.
Previous studies in hospitals in India Provincetown, Massachusetts and Finland have also shown that after vaccine breakthrough infections with Delta, there can be high levels of virus in peoples nose whether they are vaccinated or not. The next logical step was to determine whether vaccinated people could shed infectious virus. Many experts suspected they did, but until this study it hadnt been proven in the lab.
We’re the first to demonstrate, as far as I’m aware, that infectious virus can be cultured from the fully vaccinated infections, says Kasen Riemersma, a virologist at University of Wisconsin who is one of the authors of the study.
If the Wisconsin study finding holds up, then people with breakthrough infectionsmany of whom do not develop COVID symptomscan unknowingly spread the virus. It an alarming finding, explains Katarina Grande, a public health supervisor and the COVID-19 Data Team Lead of Madison & Dane County, who led the study.
What Is Breakthrough Covid
The CDC defines breakthrough infections as the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen in a respiratory specimen collected from a person 14 days after they have completed all recommended doses of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration -authorized COVID-19 vaccine.
In practice, it means that someone is positive for Covid-19 even after the vaccine has gotten enough time to work.
Who Can Get A Booster Vaccination Now
The STIKO recommends a booster vaccination with an mRNA vaccine for all vaccinated persons from the age of 12.
For an overview of the STIKO recommendations for coronavirus vaccinations, see the Robert Koch Institute website.
Further information:
For all the main questions and answers about the coronavirus vaccination, see also this separate FAQ.
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Can Breakthrough Cases Spread Covid
Its much more likely with the Delta variant than other variants Alcendor says.
A person exposed to the Delta variant is going to have a greater risk of a breakthrough infection, just because its more contagious, he says. Theres a greater viral load in a person infected with Delta.
According to the CDC:
A growing body of evidence indicates that people fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine are less likely than unvaccinated persons to acquire SARS-CoV-2 or to transmit it to others. However, the risk for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.
Top Things You Need To Know
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What Does ‘immune Escape’ Mean
If the virus mutates in such a way that antibodies that were effective against the original virus in vaccinated or convalescent people, for example, are not as potent in fighting a new variant, a so-called immune escape has been created. This allows people to become infected and ill despite vaccination or surviving COVID-19.
When Does A Vaccination Require A Booster
The Standing Commission on Vaccination recommends that everyone aged 18 and over should get a booster jab at least three months after their last vaccination. Further information can be found on the website of the Robert Koch Institute.The STIKO also recommends a booster vaccination for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17, but within a time window of three to six months after their last vaccination. Children and adolescents with pre-existing conditions should receive their booster vaccination as early as possible for 12 to 17 year-olds without pre-existing conditions, the STIKO recommends a longer vaccination interval of up to six months. See the recommendations for details.
A second booster vaccination is also recommended for certain groups of people. You will find more information on this in the course of this FAQ.
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When Should Fully Vaccinated People Be Tested For Covid
According to the CDC, any fully vaccinated person who experiences symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should isolate themselves from others, be clinically evaluated for COVID-19, and tested if appropriate. If their test result is positive, they should isolate at home for 10 days.
What should you do if you’re around someone who tested positive?
“If you’re in close contact, meaning if you’re within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, then you should get tested,” said Torres.
The CDC recommends testing to be done five to seven days following the date of exposure. While awaiting results, wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.
Here’s some advice on how to limit your risk.
Delta Variant Not More Dangerous For Vaccinated People
On the internet, the claim is spreading that the Delta variant is more harmless than other corona variants, but more dangerous for vaccinated than for unvaccinated people. Figures from the English health authority PHE serve as proof. A #Faktenfuchs.
In England, the authorities have a very good overview of the spread of the different variants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. If a Covid test is positive there, the genetic material of the viruses in the sample is sequenced much more frequently than in most other European countries. With the help of this sequencing, different variants of the virus can be detected.
Public Health England regularly publishes up-to-date data on new and worrying virus variants circulating in the country. Scientists abroad also use this data to track the spread of individual variants.
The PHE figures, however, are also used by pandemic downplayers and deniers. Facts from official sources are supposed to seemingly support their claims and discredit the measures against the pandemic. In doing so, they use well-known methods: they cherry-pick figures, but conceal the necessary context that makes it possible to classify the data correctly.
- You can find all multilingual #Faktenfuchs articles here.
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Why Is There A Residual Risk Despite Double Vaccination
None of the vaccinations that have been approved so far provide 100% protection against a coronavirus infection studies have shown that since their introduction.
Vaccinated people, particularly those with preexisting illnesses, still run the low risk of becoming infected and in the worst case, dying. However, the current death rate in the UK remains low, despite rising infection rates.
One of Germany’s leading virologists, Christian Drosten, said in a Coronavirus Update podcast in June that there were “cases where people who are double-vaccinated also die.” He suggested that experts look carefully at the exact cause of death and how the diagnosis was made.
Virologist Christian Drosten said we need to look carefully at the actual cause of death in delta variant cases
The high proportion of vaccinated individuals among the dead is probably due to the fact that about half of the population is now fully immunized, combined with the fact that numbers of overall deaths are dropping.
Moreover, according to PHE’s data, 116 of the 118 people who died were over the age of 50.
Peggy Riese, a scientist at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research , explained the scenario with the help of a concrete example. “If 100% of a population is vaccinated, then a few people who are vaccinated also die,” she told DW. She said that doesn’t mean the vaccine isn’t safe, just that it doesn’t provide 100% protection.
Should I Have My Child Vaccinated
The STIKO recommends the coronavirus vaccination for children and adolescents from the age of 12. For more information, see the page Together against the coronavirus.
For children aged 5 to 11 without pre-existing conditions, there is currently only a low risk of severe disease, hospitalisation or intensive care. In addition, the risk of rare side effects associated with the vaccination cannot be assessed at present due to the limited data available. For this reason, the STIKO is not currently making a general vaccination recommendation for children aged 5 to 11 who do not have pre-existing conditions.
However, if individually requested, children aged 5 to 11 without pre-existing conditions can receive the vaccination, too. In addition, the STIKO recommends vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 who live with very elderly people or those with a weak immune system. For more information on this point, see the page Together against the coronavirus.
Coronavirus vaccination is a sensitive issue for many parents. Ask your doctor or paediatrician for advice if you have any questions.
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How Can Vaccinated People Avoid Breakthrough Infections
Two weeks after Jessica Conrad got the second shot of her Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, she decided to ditch her mask. When she’d go see her friends play music at bars in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives, she’d try to maintain distance from other people as a precaution, but she no longer thought covering her face was necessary.
“I was so extremely careful the entire year of 2020,” she told TODAY’s Vicky Nguyen. ” would still wear masks out on the sidewalks. … I was inside a lot. Once I got the vaccine, I was like, I’m OK, I got this now.”
Over the summer, Conrad developed a breakthrough infection, the term for when a fully vaccinated person tests positive for COVID-19. Some people experience symptoms and some don’t. Conrad initially thought hers were allergies because they felt similar to a head cold. Then she got a sore throat followed by nausea and gastrointestinal problems a few days later. She also lost her sense of taste and smell.
As People In The Country Are Getting Back To Their Normal Routine After Fighting The Ferocious Second Wave Of Covid
Written by Satata Karmakar | Updated : November 25, 2021 11:11 AM IST
As the world battles the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19, a study has confirmed that this strain of coronavirus can not only infect the ones who are unvaccinated but also enter the bodies of fully vaccinated individuals and wreck havoc. The study was conducted by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium , Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research , and the National Centre for Disease Control in two Delhi hospitals. The researchers revealed that even when a person is fully vaccinated, there still remains a high probability of potential virus transmission.
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The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things To Know
A new C.D.C. framework.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines that will help counties determine when and where people should wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid crowded indoor spaces.
The virus in the U.S.A new study found that members of minority groups reported more frequent experiences of Covid-related discrimination than white people. The Biden administration announced a plan to make masks and coronavirus tests more accessible to people with disabilities.
Around the world.A new study estimates that at least 5.2 million children around the world lost a caregiver to Covid-19 in the first 19 months of the pandemic. In Hong Kong, Covid has surged dramatically through nursing homes.
Vaccines.Two doses of a new Covid vaccine, made by Sanofi and GSK that uses a traditional approach rather than mRNA technology, showed it was highly protective against severe disease, and it could be an effective booster after other Covid shots, its makers announced.
But a recent study posted online, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggested that the companys vaccine may be much less potent against Delta than against the original strain of the virus. Boosters may ultimately be needed, the studys authors said.
Do Vaccinated People Spread The Virus
Vaccines aren’t meant to prevent infection. Their strength is in preventing the infection from making people sick and landing them in the hospital.
Most breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people tend to be mild or to occur without symptoms. What remains unknown is whether an unsuspecting carrier can spread the virus to vulnerable people, such as the unvaccinated, children under age 12 or those with compromised immune systems.
Goodman said infected people who have been fully vaccinated probably have less virus in their system and therefore are probably less likely to transmit it to others. The time person is contagious is also probably shorter with vaccination, he said.
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Vaccinated People Can Transmit Virus If Infected With Delta Variant: Study
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
ATLANTA: A new study of the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the Delta variant produced similar amounts of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated people if they get infected, The News reported Sunday.
The study, published by the CDC on Friday, focused on 469 COVID-19 cases identified among Massachusetts residents who had travelled to Barnstable County, a summer vacation destination, from July 3 to 17, foreign media reported on Saturday.
A total of 346 cases, about 74%, occurred in fully vaccinated people, according to the study.
Testing identified the Delta variant in 90% of specimens from 133 patients.
Cycle threshold values were similar among specimens from patients who were fully vaccinated and those who were not, according to the study. The study demonstrated that Delta infection resulted in similarly high SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
“High viral loads suggest an increased risk of transmission and raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with Delta can transmit the virus,” she said.
Walensky said that this finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation.
The CDC updated its masking recommendation on Tuesday, urging vaccinated Americans to resume wearing masks in schools and in public indoor spaces in COVID-19 hot spots across the country.
Should Vaccinated People Wear Masks Indoors
It’s unlikely that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reinstate recommendations to wear masks. But because of the unknown level of transmissibility of delta among fully vaccinated people, experts said in interviews that they continue to wear masks indoors when they are around people they don’t know, such as in grocery stores or movie theaters or on public transportation.
“I have never changed my behavior, and I’m fully vaccinated,” Wohl said. “If I’m indoors, around other people who could be unvaccinated, I wear a mask.
“With Delta spreading, that’s the way we should be.”
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Are Mrna Vaccines Better Than Vector Vaccines
Earlier data from the UK had indicated slightly higher effectiveness of the two mRNA vaccines against hospitalization than the Israeli data showed: According to a PHE study, one dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccination is said to hinder severe illness with hospitalization as a result of the the delta variant by up to 94%, with protection rising to 96% after the second dose.
The PHE study said people vaccinated with AstraZeneca are 71% protected from having a severe course of illness with hospitalization after the first vaccination, and 92% after the second.
According to another study published by PHE, the vaccines also protect against symptomatic reactions to possible infection with the delta variant. In it, BioNTech-Pfizer shows 36% protection against symptomatic disease after the first dose and 88% after the second. AstraZeneca showed 30% protection after the first dose and 67% after the second.
The study results indicate that the delta variant is more resistant to the vaccines but that full vaccination continues to provide strong protection even against this variant.
States Resume Vaccination Push After Busiest Holiday Weekend Since Pandemic
They also provide a limited picture of all the ways the immune system works against Covid-19, because they measure only antibody response. Certain cellular responses also play key roles. T cells, for example, help by killing infected cells and harnessing the power of other immune cells in the fight against viruses. Lab studies don’t usually measure T-cell response.
The second and maybe more important way to determine vaccine effectiveness is by simply observing what’s happening in the real world in real time.
“It’s very hard to translate laboratory data into ‘what’s going to happen if I’m vaccinated and someone sneezes on me and spreads delta all over my face?'” said Dr. David Wohl, a professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who runs UNC’s vaccine clinics.
That’s why it’s important for scientists to look to places like the United Kingdom, where the delta variant accounts for nearly 100 percent of current Covid-19 cases. Despite having higher vaccination rates than the U.S. 68 percent in the U.K. have had at least one dose, compared to just under 55 percent in the U.S. cases are rising in the U.K.
“The only real difference between us and them is delta,” Wohl said. “I’m really worried that what’s going on in the U.K. is precisely what’s going to happen here.”
“If you’re waiting for some magical moment” to get vaccinated, he said, “this is it.”
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Do Vaccines Protect Against The Delta Variant Of Covid
Studies so far do not suggest with certainty that the Delta variant causes more severe infection or increases hospitalization rates compared to the previous variants.
More studies are underway to confirm whether there are any changes in the disease severity caused by this strain. However, some studies have suggested that the disease is more severe among unvaccinated individuals.