So-called “innovative” coronavirus cases – infections that occur in people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 – are rare, but they can happen, according to two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday.
The first study focused on frontline workers at the Southwestern Medical Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. Of the 8,121 fully vaccinated employees there, only four were infected with the new virus.
The researchers noted that vaccination had a “dramatic” effect on the medical center’s workforce, noting that they observed a “greater than 90% reduction in the number of isolated or quarantined employees”.
“The real-world experience with vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 at UTSW has shown a marked reduction in the incidence of infections among employees. This decrease has preserved the workforce when it was most needed,” they added.
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The second study was based on data from vaccinated workers at various hospitals in the Los Angeles area. In that study, only seven of the 14,990 vaccinated health professionals tested positive for COVID-19.
“The rarity of positive test results 14 days after administering the second dose of the vaccine is encouraging and suggests that the efficacy of these vaccines is maintained outside the trial environment,” wrote the researchers. “These data underscore the critical importance of continuous public health mitigation measures (masking, physical detachment, daily symptom tracking and regular testing), even in environments with a high incidence of vaccination, until herd immunity is widely achieved.”
In both studies, those who tested positive for the new virus after vaccination had only mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, Francesca Torriani, the lead researcher for the second study, told the New York Times.
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Speaking to Fox News, Dr. John Whyte, medical director of the health WebMD website, agreed with the study’s authors, noting that becoming fully vaccinated does not amount to a “free card to get out of prison” – for now, at any less . Although vaccines are very effective, studies serve as a reminder that taking the COVID-19 vaccine does not make you completely invulnerable.
“It is good to remind people what the vaccine efficacy data means. [mean] 95% or 72% of people who get the COVID vaccine will not get COVID, “he said, referring to the efficacy data from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs, as well as from Johnson & Johnson.” This means that the percentage of people, if exposed to the virus, will have no symptoms. The remaining 5% or 18% will be symptomatic – possibly moderate to severe – if exposed to COVID. Therefore, vaccination is not a card for escaping from prison. “
“Until we have a much higher percentage of people vaccinated, you still need to be careful. Yes, you can socialize with a small group of people who have also been vaccinated or are at low risk, but vaccination does not mean that you can just come back to your pre-pandemic life because, although the risk is less, it still exists for now. “