Why are vaccinated people contracting COVID-19?
- Dindima
- Jul 4, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 19, 2021
A 49-year-old man died 2 hours after taking the vaccine in Noida, India.
In Jamshedpur, a 70-year-old man died after getting vaccinated. In Moradabad, a hospital worker died after receiving a vaccine shot.
According to Scroll, around 180 people have died after receiving a vaccine shot in India.
These were the biggest headlines following the government's full-fledged vaccination campaign. As a result, many people started questioning vaccine safety.
Prashant Bhushan, a well known lawyer at Supreme Court, raised questions regarding the safety of vaccines in the early drives.
Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, 21st CM of Uttar Pradesh, publicly said " I will not get the vaccine now. I am telling you about myself. Am I going to trust a vaccine given by the BJP? Oh, get lost. When our government comes, everyone will get the vaccine free."
The public were in dilemma. While some of the concerns highlighted by social celebrities were valid, others exacerbated the public's emotions. At some point, even party politics took turns.
Lets go understanding some basic questions.
1. So, should you really get vaccinated?
The shortest answer is – YES.
The vaccines are safe and everybody should get vaccinated. While medicines, which treat or cure diseases, vaccines prevent them from spreading or decreasing the fatality. So, vaccine is a must for everyone.
The following are some of the often asked questions: "Is it safe to take vaccines? Furthermore, why should everyone be vaccinated? ". Let's look at the role and mechanism of a vaccine to see if we can help you uncover the answers.
2. What are vaccines?
An attenuated or dead virus is supplied to your body via vaccine. So that your body learns to defend itself against the virus. Your body does this by producing antibodies. Once your body learns to fight against a weakened virus, it becomes easier for your body to produce antibodies in case of an actual viral infection. Thus your body will protect itself easily.
A vaccination is comparable to a stock on the stock exchange. It is possible that not all investments will be profitable. Some yield losses. Similarly, no vaccine can offer you 100% protection against disease.
There’re several vaccines in the world. You can notice that none of them are 100% effective. There’re two vaccines in India and 3rd one has been approved. But they aren’t 100% effective either. This means that you could catch COVID-19 even after getting vaccinated. This is called a breakthrough infection.
To understand this at a deeper level, we first need to know the difference between an ‘infection’ and a ‘disease’.
Infection and Disease :
We tend to use these two words interchangeably. But, remember, these two are different and also mean differently.
An infection, is the first stage of any disease. This is the stage at which an external microbe enters your body and begins to grow or replicate while using you as a host.
A disease, on the other hand, is caused when this microbe starts attacking your body. You become ill and begin to exhibit symptoms such as a cold or a cough.
That means,
An Infection enters body,
A disease, on the other hand, is an infection that attacks the body.
3. How vaccine tests are conducted ?
When vaccine test trials are conducted, participants are divided into two groups. One group receives the vaccine while the other group believes that it has received it but that’s not the case. This is called a placebo, a fake vaccine. Even the researchers won't be able to tell who gets the actual vaccine and who doesn't.
Following administration, these groups are allowed into normal life, and researchers continue to study these volunteers on a regular basis. Over time, the scientists check for those who show symptoms of COVID-19. If the number of patients is lower in the vaccinated group, then the vaccine is effective.
Thus, a vaccine measures if you get sick or not. It doesn’t measure if you catch the infection or not.
To measure the infection, everyone needs to be tested.
But scientists only test those who show symptoms of the disease. This tells us that even after getting vaccinated you could get infected.
4. Why do you get sick even after getting vaccinated?
It's not just about becoming sick; some people may even die.
Why do that happen?
Vaccines, according to Erin Bromage, an American immunologist, are similar to dams. There is no such thing as a 100% effective dam. The dam may fail if the water limit is exceeded. Vaccines are no exception.
Hence, the term ‘breakthrough’ infection was coined.
Breakthrough Infections :
Experts argue that breakthrough infection occurs in an environment where several COVID cases are present. Thus, if you’re vaccinated and live in India, you’re more likely to get infected, as the country is recording thousands of cases per day, as compared to Singapore which is recording fewer than 10 cases per day.
Other than the number of active cases in an area, several other factors are responsible for breakthrough infections. For example, an immunocompromised individual is more likely to catch COVID-19. Immunocompromised individuals don’t have a strong immune system. These are people with medical conditions like diabetes, cancer, and HIV. Thus, even if they do get vaccinated, they can contract COVID-19.
You’re not 100% protected even if you get both doses of the vaccine. Because it takes 2 weeks before you’re completely immunized. Thus, those who’ve only received the first dose of the vaccine or recently received the second dose can test +ve.
Though a vaccinated individual can get a breakthrough infection, there’s positive news. The breakthrough infection isn’t as fatal as a normal infection contracted by a non-vaccinated individual.
Israel conducted a study on 5000 patients.
It included those who had been vaccinated and those who hadn’t received any vaccine.
The study showed that when a vaccinated individual gets infected, the load of virus in his/her body is low. This means that the symptoms of COVID-19 in their body are lower too.
Researchers have discovered that once you get vaccinated you’re less likely to contract a fatal infection and transmit the virus to others. That’s why researchers suggest that when you get vaccinated.
You not only do good for yourself, but also for the people around you.
IndiaSpend revealed in a report that the government doesn’t have enough data to study breakthrough infections. They pointed out that the vaccination program in India started in January 2021, but until 7 April the testing centers didn’t ask patients if they were vaccinated or not.
If the forms were changed after 7 April, what about those who had been vaccinated and tested positive between January and April?
ICMR doesn’t have that data.
But still, ICMR of India has been trying to understand breakthrough infections. According to ICMR, among every 10 thousand vaccinated people only 2-4 contracted breakthrough infections. This is good news because breakthrough infections are rare.
Studies conducted in other countries like America have shown that the changes of breakthrough infections are fairly low.
After getting vaccinated you shouldn’t stop wearing masks and following COVID-19 protocols. The more you expose yourself to the virus, the more are the chances that you’d contract a breakthrough infection.
That’s why a Hyderabad-based doctor suggested that a vaccine can’t prevent the virus from entering your body. But it helps you fight the virus once it gets into your body.
Only masks can block the entry of the virus.
The Rumours:
Whatsapp, the so-called rumour university, has became a rumour spreader. Many messages were received in fast messaging app regarding hoax stories of vaccine. Some of them were,
Girls, for example, should avoid vaccinations for 5 days before and after their periods.
COVID-19 vaccinations have also been linked to male infertility.
These rumours have been disproved by experts.
Gynecologists have said that periods have no effects on the vaccine. But about the rumor of infertility, this mentality could be because of the emergency in India. Several forced sterilization programs took place around that time. Sanjay Gandhi forced people to take these injections to reduce the population of India.
Other rumours were,
Many claims that Astrazeneca’s Covishield vaccine causes blood clots. Though it has been observed in many, experts suggest that the risk is low. And it’s better to take the vaccine despite the risk.
The main reason behind the second wave is the lack of vaccination among the citizens. As of 25th April, only 1.6% of the population has received both doses of vaccine 8.6% received the first. The figures for the USA are 28.9% and 42.6%. And 18.9% and 50.5% for the UK.
India would develop herd immunity, a stage when the spread of the virus can become minimal if 70% of its population is vaccinated. But the pace with which we’re going,
it would take 16 months for 70% of the population to get the first dose of the vaccine.
And around 9 years to get the second dose.
The majority of the delay is due to the supply of medications to other nations. As a result, now Indian government has banned export and approved a third vaccine.
Let us act as Responsible Citizens
The nation always comes first before you. A reply by Omar A to Akhilesh Yadav who earlier painted vaccination drive as lack of trust.
It’s the job of the central and state governments to provide vaccines. But it’s our job to get vaccinated. You get vaccinated and also convince people around you to get vaccinated. It not only crucial for them but for their families too.
If you don’t value your health or the health of your family, then get vaccinated for the sake of your love life. Please do not mix politics or misbelief in this campaign.
Lets act as a responsible citizen of our country, and this small step by you can make a big difference.
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