Ómicron: Why do vaccinated people also get COVID-19?

The effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 continues to be a matter of controversy worldwide, where various sectors of the population who oppose being inoculated have been campaigning denouncing side effects of the doses or even criticizing measures by authorities that encourage the vaccination.

The truth is that from the beginning the authorities of different governments, which include the WHO, certified that vaccination against coronavirus it does not prevent contagion. What it does is strengthen the immunity of our system to prevent serious cases that lead to hospitalizations or deaths.

As the BBC describes, some of the side effects, which are one of the reasons for anti-vaccines for not accessing the antidote, are mild and disappear naturally after a few days: pain and redness at the site of the puncture, fever, pain in the body. head, tiredness, muscle aches, chills and nausea.

However, more serious conditions have been found in some people after being inoculated. Pictures of anaphylaxis, thrombosis, pericarditis are considered rare by the authorities.

“Vaccines protect much better against more severe forms than against moderate, mild, or asymptomatic forms of COVID-19. The more severe the result, the greater its effectiveness “explained the infectious disease specialist Renato Kfouri, director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm).

“The main objective of these immunizers, therefore, was never to stop the infection itself, but to make the coronavirus invasion less harmful to the body”, assures.

The application of vaccines in doses recommended by the WHO prevented a total of 1.1 million deaths and 10.3 million hospitalizations in the United States alone through November 2021, according to data from the Commonwealth Fund.

Also, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that around 470,000 people over 60 years of age were saved from dying in 33 countries in the Americas.

Vaccines are not known to prevent disease, and thus not reinfection. Around the world, there are still cases of people who were infected again with COVID-19, despite being vaccinated. This is due to three factors:

First, people are returning to their “normal” pre-pandemic life. It meets in closed spaces, celebrates, etc., increasing the risk of transmission.

Second, immunity with the two doses suggested last year by the WHO they have proven not to be enough and that they do not last forever. That is why countries are already applying even fourth doses of the antidote. And it is not ruled out that in the future it should be done once a year.

“Over time, we have seen the level of protection drop. This drop will be greater or lesser depending on the type of vaccine and the age of each individual ”, points out Kfouri.

“This highlighted the need to apply a third dose, first for the elderly and immunosuppressed, then for the entire adult population”, added.

The third factor it involves the arrival of new mutations or variants, such as omicron, which have been shown to be more contagious and has the ability to avoid the immunity obtained with one or two-dose vaccines.

“Given this, the infection in the vaccinated must be seen as something absolutely common and we will have to learn to live with this situation”, think Kfouri.

“Fortunately, this recent increase in cases of COVID-19 it has resulted in a lower rate of hospitalizations and deaths, especially among people who have already been vaccinated ”, ended.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO