Theres growing concern vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than previously thought – NJ.com

While its evident that vaccination provides strong protection against the coronavirus, scientists are increasingly concerned vaccinated people may be more susceptible to serious illness than was previously thought.

According to a report by Bloomberg, this growing concern comes in the midst of a shortage of scientific studies with solid answers, leaving public policymakers and corporate executives with only fragmented information on which to base their plans.

As a result, the report noted mask mandates are being renewed and office reopenings are being delayed, while other officials are choosing to maintain the status quo, citing the lack of clarity to justify their decisions.

Anecdotes tell us what the data cant: Vaccinated people appear to be getting the coronavirus at a surprisingly high rate, Bloomberg reported. What isnt clear is the frequency at which this is happening as well as the likelihood of those people spreading the virus to others.

As Bloomberg reports, vaccinated people are much less likely to require hospital treatment for COVID-19 and are much less likely to need to be put on ventilators. And those who have had the COVID-19 vaccine are much less likely to die.

But about 30% of adults have yet to be vaccinated. And doctors are paying attention to infections among those who have been vaccinated.

Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the head of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives said, We have to be humble about what we do know and what we dont know.

There are a few things we can say definitively. One is that this is a hard question to address, he added.

The vulnerability of the vaccinated is a key variable.

For vaccinated people, the lack of clear public health messaging reportedly has left them confused as to how to protect themselves. Their level of vulnerability is a key variable for public health officials as they try to make informed decisions, such as when booster shots might be needed, or whether to roll back reopenings amid a new wave of the virus.

Its quite clear that we have more breakthroughs now, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco. We all know someone who has had one. But we dont have great clinical data.

The report noted one of the best-known outbreaks among vaccinated people that occurred in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Thousands of vaccinated and unvaccinated alike gathered over the July 4th weekend to celebrate the holiday and what appeared to be a turning point in the pandemic. Vaccinated people accounted for about three-fourths of the resulting 469 infections.

Prompted by the incident, the CDC reversed a recommendation it had issued just a few weeks prior and once again urged the vaccinated to mask up in certain settings, Bloomberg reported.

There are more questions than answers.

Bloomberg noted there are simply more questions than answers at this time. Is the delta variant the reason breakthrough infections are ticking up or could it be that immunity is waning, or simply the result of returning to normal life?

Its anyones guess.

Are vaccinated people more vulnerable to severe illness than was previously thought? Just how common are breakthrough infections? the news outlet asked. Its anyones guess.

It is generally the case that we have to make public health decisions based on imperfect data, Frieden said. But there is just a lot we dont know, Bloomberg cited.

An expanded version of this post can be accessed via Bloomberg.

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Theres growing concern vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than previously thought - NJ.com