The extra support a vaccine provides provides a milder infection

That’s according to a study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

People who test positive for sars-cov-2, the virus that causes covid-19, have a significantly lower risk of developing serious illness and ending up in the hospital if they are vaccinated, compared to people who are not fully vaccinated.

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It shows an analysis of more than 1.2 million Britons who received at least one vaccine dose between December and July and who then reported any symptoms and test results using an app.

The study published in the journal Lancet Infectious DiseasesIt shows, among other things, that the people at greatest risk of developing so-called superinfections, in which they become infected despite being vaccinated, are people over 60 years of age and those with underlying diseases. Also, people who live in crowded areas have a significantly increased risk.

“We knew it simply at the time. Rose Penfold, one of the article’s authors, Rose Penfold of King’s College London, tells the magazine that these groups are at greater risk of exposure to the virus, and therefore more susceptible to infection.

The researchers can also report that less than 0.5 per cent in the UK reported a breakthrough infection 14 days after a vaccine dose, in the first half of this year. The corresponding ratio after two doses was less than 0.2 percent.

For those who did develop an infection however, the chance of no symptoms increased by 63 and 94 percent after one and two doses of the vaccine, respectively, compared to the unvaccinated. Moreover, the risk of hospitalization was reduced by 70 percent, after one or two doses, while the risk of developing five or more symptoms after the first week was reduced by two-thirds. At the same time, the risk of illness lasting 28 days or more was halved.

“Breakthrough injuries are to be expected and they do not diminish the fact that vaccines do exactly what they are designed for, which is to save lives and prevent serious disease. These findings underscore the critical role of vaccines in preventing COVID-19 infection.

The vaccines that people in the current study received were vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer Bionic and AstraZeneca.

The study’s weakness, the researchers wrote, is that the subjects themselves reported any symptoms, as well as morbidity, vaccine status, and/or test results, so in some cases these data may be incorrect or incomplete.

Johan Nelson / TT