Equitable access to safe and effective vaccines is critical to ending the COVID 19 pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines are a game-changing tool, but for the foreseeable future, we must continue wearing masks, cleaning our hands, ensuring good ventilation indoors, physically distancing, and avoiding crowds.
Being vaccinated does not mean that we can throw caution to the wind and put ourselves and others at risk, particularly because research is still ongoing into how much vaccines, protect not only against disease but also against infection and transmission.
No vaccine is 100 percent effective. But vaccines are safe, with far fewer side effects compared to the COVID 19 infection.
There are many differences in COVID 19 among vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.
Infections occur much lesser extent in vaccinated people
To be clear infections are occurring in both unvaccinated and vaccinated people but to a much lesser extent in the latter group. It means it is still possible for vaccinated individuals to test positive for COVID 19. But unvaccinated people are more likely than those who are fully vaccinated to test positive for COVID 19. That’s because the vaccines have proven effective even against the delta variant which is more contagious and may cause more severe disease. If a fully vaccinated person gets infected with the virus, the patient is known as a breakthrough case.
People who are vaccinated benefit from a lower risk of developing COVID 19 once infected.
The vast majority of vaccinated individuals who happen to test positive for COVID 19 can expect it to be asymptomatic because people who are vaccinated benefit from a lower risk of developing COVID 19 once infected. So fully or partially vaccinated people have a lower risk of developing symptoms such as fever or chills compared to the unvaccinated when infected.
Symptoms are milder and shorter-lived in vaccinated people.
If a vaccinated person develops symptoms, they are shorter-lived compared to the unvaccinated.
Infections in the vaccinated are likely less transmissible.
Because symptoms are milder and tend to go away faster in vaccinated people, experts say this suggests they are less likely to spread the virus to others: less coughing or sneezing means fewer opportunities for the virus to latch onto others. But the delta variant, however, has challenged this idea.
And also viral load, or the amount of virus particles someone carries in their upper airways, is lower in infected, fully or partially vaccinated people, with the virus being detected for fewer days in their respiratory samples compared to infected unvaccinated people.
Fully or partially vaccinated people have a lower average viral RNA load than the unvaccinated.
Fully or partially vaccinated people are less likely to be hospitalized with COVID 19 than people who are not vaccinated.
Among them fully vaccinated people are the least likely group than partially vaccinated people, to be hospitalized due to COVID 19. In that case-patients who are hospitalized although vaccinated are probably the most do have some other health issue that decreases immunity or increases susceptibility.
Reduce the chance of ICU hospitalization and death.
A large majority of new hospitalizations and deaths from COVID 19 are occurring among unvaccinated people. While it is not impossible for a vaccinated individual can get a severe case of COVID 19 leading to hospitalization and even death it is extremely rare.
Shows differences in chest X- rays, taken when infected.
X-ray of the unvaccinated individual is more clouded in white. This indicates more advanced or significant lung disease that could be the result of a viral infection, a bacterial infection, or even fluid on the lungs. In a COVID 19 patient, it could be due to ongoing inflammation of the lungs due to viral infection itself.
The vaccinated patient’s X-ray image has more black area which shows lungs while they are filled with air.
According to the above information, vaccines are doing exactly what they were supposed to do: Prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
Every single unvaccinated person is a potential host for the COVID 19 virus to duplicate and mutate. So everyone who is eligible for a vaccine should get vaccinated. This helps protect them and those who can’t get the vaccine due to a medical condition or age.
With the delta variant, which is becoming predominant throughout the world because it is more infectious, the vaccines have about 65 percent efficacy, versus 95 percent for original strains.
Despite vaccination status, age or other health conditions the delta variant still presented a higher risk of hospitalization, ICU and death. But still, vaccines are highly effective against the delta variant at preventing serious illness and death.
References:-
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-theres-a-big-difference-between-a-vaccinated-and-unvaccinated-person-testing-positive-for-covid-19
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/risks-of-the-delta-variant-for-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated-people
https://www.fox29.com/news/covid-19-lung-x-rays-show-difference-between-vaccinated-unvaccinated-patients
https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article253220048.html
Upani Omalka
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