Truthmeter.mk: The vaccines are functional, but no one claims they are 100% effective

Фото: Мета.мк

Meta.mk under the cooperation agreement with Truthmeter.mk republishes its debunking of disinformation spread among the Facebook users in North Macedonia:

Both unvaccinated and vaccinated people can become infected and transmit the virus, although the difference in the outcome of the disease can be very different for the two groups. However, the greatest risk of transmission is among the unvaccinated, which are more likely to become infected and transmit the virus. No approved vaccine against Covid-19 is 100 percent effective and no one has claimed this. Delta strains have changed the effectiveness of vaccines, but they still in most cases prevent a severe clinical picture, hospitalization, and death

 

Facebook post spreads disinformation that vaccines are not functional and manipulates that the unvaccinated people do not harm the vaccinated.

After 3 vaccine doses and after believing in stories that you are not protected from Covid-19 just because there are people who are not vaccinated, is the extreme of idiocy. The vaccines are simply not functional, and it remains to be seen whether they are harmful.

The course of the coronavirus pandemic (which was to be beaten by vaccines) was disrupted by the emergence of a new strain of the virus called the delta variant.

On 31 July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the delta variant of the coronavirus was as contagious as measles and that infection among the vaccinated people could be as contagious as among the unvaccinated.

With the advent of this new, much more contagious variant, it is clear that both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated people can become infected and transmit the virus, although the difference in disease outcome may be very different for these two groups. However, the greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are more likely to become infected and transmit the virus.

The agency also notes that vaccines are highly effective in preventing infections, serious illness and death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while vaccinated people are at lower risk of getting the disease, they can still transmit the Coronavirus to others in the same way as the unvaccinated.

No approved vaccine against Covid-19 is 100 percent effective and no one has claimed this. The Delta variant has changed or reduced the effectiveness of vaccines, but they still in most cases prevent a severe clinical picture, hospitalization and death.

On 17 September, the CDC published an analysis of several studies conducted in the United States and other countries on the effectiveness of vaccines against the delta variant. The analysis says that since the advent of the delta variant, the effectiveness of the vaccine regarding hospitalization has ranged from 75 to 95 percent, and the effectiveness regarding infection has ranged from 39 to 84 percent – depending on the region. Prior to the delta variant, the same vaccines ranged from 84 to 97 percent efficacy against hospitalization and from 72 to 97 percent efficacy against infection.

This is especially true for moderately to severely immunocompromised people, who are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and may not develop the same level of immunity to vaccines as people who are not immunocompromised. Their contact with unvaccinated people who are infected with the virus can be particularly dangerous.

This means that an unvaccinated person who is infected with Covid-19 poses the greatest risk to those who are also unvaccinated, but it also poses a risk to those who are vaccinated because the vaccines are not 100 percent effective. Thus, there is a possibility that an unvaccinated person can infect a vaccinated person – especially the vulnerable ones, such as the elderly and people with weakened immunity.

Dr Aleksandar Petlichkovski, from the Institute of Immunobiology and Human Genetics, at a panel discussion on “Vaccination and Challenges with Covid-19” confirmed that vaccines are efficient and not harmful:

We do not yet have a reliable 100 percent effective treatment, but we have some clear views that vaccination is the best approach to dealing with the epidemic. News and stories about the side effects of different types of vaccines have been cyclical. When a given vaccine became available and popular, it was immediately linked to some scary stories, many of them completely unfounded. Those stories have appeared and will continue to appear, I do not expect them to stop, but for these millions and even billions of inhabitants covered with vaccines, when we summarize the numbers we already see that these are extremely rare cases – said Petlichkovski.

Emanuel Goldman from the Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at New Jersey State University School of Medicine sees the real danger in a future variant of the virus, which will be caused by people who are not vaccinated and thus provide excellent circumstances for the virus to continue to generate variants. He warns in an open letter that this could lead to the emergence of a variant that is resistant to current vaccines, making those already vaccinated more susceptible to serious infection.

Progress we have made in overcoming the pandemic will be lost. New vaccines will have to be developed. Lockdowns and masks will once again be required. Many more who are currently protected, especially among the vulnerable, will die, – Goldman warns.

The post we are reviewing subtly manipulates the third dose of vaccine. In our country, and everywhere in the world where the third dose of vaccine has been introduced, it is only recommended, it is not mandatory and it is not conditioned by anything. Moreover, a third dose of the vaccine is recommended only for a certain category of people and not for the general population, Truthmeter.mk writes.