You must have heard about number of cases where even after getting vaccinated person was infected with Covid 19. There is a misconception among people’s mind and especiall media, that after getting vaccinated you will not be affected with virus, whereas the fact is no vaccine gurantees 100% immunity from Covid 19 virus, so a small percentage of people who have received vaccination will still get infected, but experts say that their symptom are likely to be mild.
Sn infection that occurs after vaccination is called a ‘ breakthrough case’. But there is acondition-it should occur at least 14 days after you are fully vaccinted. In our country, it means that two weeks after your second dose of vaccine. This time frame is necessary because ‘your body should have enough time to develop antibodies. A research found vaccinated people are likely to get infected in the first 12 days after the first vaccine dose. Even after 17 days, 60 to 80% of vaccinated people could get infected. Here classic case is of Pakistan PM Imran Khan who got vaccinated on 18th March 21, but on 20th March he was found positive. It only implies that Imran Khan most probably had the virus for several days before he took his shot. So his positive test does not mean the vaccine failed.
Yes some small percentage of people who are properly vaccinated are expected to get sick with coronavirus. many million people across the world have been vaccinted, and from every where you are hearing these type of cases. It is very unfair to describe that vaccine has failed. So ‘breakthrough cases’ will now continue to grow in number everywhere. They are an entirely expected part of any vaccination process. But the important thing is not to get laarmed and start doubting the vaccine.
No Vaccine Is Perfect
Till now there had only one vaccine that provided 100% immunity from the virus, it was so good that it totally wiped out the smallpox virus. But such sterilising immunity-stopping not only sickness but also infection-is very rare.
In corona case last year scientist set the bar as low as 50% efficacy. Luckily all the approved vaccines turned out to be far better with efficacy rates as high as 95%.
The goal of vaccination is not eradication, but to develop condition where human and virus coexist, with the risk of disease at a tolerably low. With vaccines,one is mainly trying to prevent severe disease and death, not the infection itself. Presently all the approved vaccines seem to be excellent in that. One will never know how bad symptoms would have been, if one was not vaccinated.
So the main reasons of breakthrough cases is that vaccines are not perfect. We need to draw a distinction between infection and disease. As none of the present vaccines claims to protect you from infection, so breakthrough cases are not at all surprising. But then what makes some vaccinated people more susceptible to virus than the others? For this there could be many factors, from your immune system’s response to the virus variant one is exposed to. As the existing vaccines are based on last year’s coronavirus variant, they might be less effective against newer variants. The vaccines which were developed based on those infected by the original Wuhan strain last year have little ability to protect against UK or South African strains. Also one’s immune systen could get buckle under the force of big virus dose, for example inside a room where many Covid patients are present. Large doses of the virus can overpower the strudiest of immune defences, if given the chance.
That is why continuing to wear a mask even after one has been vaccinated can reduce the risk of breakthrough cases.
I hope the above information will be useful to you.
Waiting for your views and comments.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
1st April 2021.v