Fully vaccinated people now remain at risk for the novel coronavirus as waning immunity and the rise of the delta variant have made it more dangerous for those who have been inoculated.
Are fully vaccinated people getting COVID-19?
Experts told The Washington Post that there is now growing evidence from studies that the COVID-19 vaccines provide less immunity than in the original trial studies from last year.
- “New research studies in the United States, Israel, Britain and Qatar have shown a partial erosion in the effectiveness of vaccines against mild to moderate infections,” according to The Washington Post.
The vaccines largely prevent hospitalization and death. But immunocompromised people still remain at risk.
- “Immunocompromised people are winding up hospitalized despite being vaccinated,” The Washington Post reports.
Data on breakthrough infections
Per The New York Times, breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people accounted for at least 20% of new COVID-19 cases in six of seven states that submitted preliminary data.
- The data show that there were “higher percentages of total hospitalizations and deaths than had been previously observed” in vaccinated people, too, according to The New York Times
Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told The New York Times this might change how fully vaccinated people look at the pandemic.
- “Remember when the early vaccine studies came out, it was like nobody gets hospitalized, nobody dies,” he told The New York Times. “That clearly is not true.”
Will you need a COVID-19 booster shot?
U.S. health officials called for all Americans to get COVID-19 booster shots to protect themselves against the delta variant and improve their vaccine’s effectiveness, per The Associated Press.
- Currently, the plan — which comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — calls for people to get their booster shots about eight months after they got a second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, The Associated Press reports.
- Booster shots will begin being offered on Sept. 20, per The Associated Press.