Editor: Bolysbek Dana
Author: Akhmetzhanova Inara
Translator: Tulkibaeva Nursulu
The topic of vaccination is now quite debated. People are divided into two camps: those who trust and those who are skeptical. According to research data, vaccines protect from the disease by about 90-95% (the Russian Sputnik-V - 91,6%, Moderna (mRNA-1273) - 94,1%, Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2) - 95%), and from its severe form - by all 100%. But there is still a chance of recurrence of the disease.
Specialists from UC San Diego School of Medicine studied pooled data on personnel who received vaccines from Pfizer (developed together with German BioNTech) or Moderna from December 16, 2020, till February 9, 2021: in total 36 659 people received the first dose, 28 184 - the second (77%). The period in question coincided with the coronavirus outbreak. According to the results, 71% - became ill with Covid-19 in the first two weeks after the first dose. Another 37 health care workers were diagnosed with the disease after two shots, although two components were thought to provide maximum immune protection. "There are several possible explanations. First, the health care workers interviewed had access to regular testing, even if they had no symptoms. Second, there has been a spike in illness in the region during this period, coinciding with vaccination campaigns. Third, the demographics of health care providers differ from those involved in vaccine trials. Healthcare workers tend to be younger and have a higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in the community," explained Lucy E. Horton, associate professor of infectious diseases and public health at the San Diego School of Medicine.
Although the risk of infection was not zero, it was encouraging that the proportion of people who got sick after the second shot was minimal. This, according to the authors of the paper, suggests that the effectiveness of the vaccines persists beyond the trials.
