Can a specific COVID-19 vaccine offer more protection from breakthrough cases?
Despite vaccination drives picking up pace, there's still a concerning rise in the number of COVID cases reported every day, be it in India or across the world. The dominance of the Delta variant of the virus has also led to a number of breakthrough cases, which have hinted that a post-vaccination world may not be as hopeful as we earlier presumed it to be.
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Now, while many experts feel that a rise in breakthrough infections is common to be expected, the vaccines in themselves have proven to be a great silver bullet in our defence. From lessening down complications to the symptoms, getting vaccinated is without a doubt, helpful. But is there one vaccine that is more protective than the other? Could a certain vaccine dose guarantee higher odds of prevention than the others? Here's what studies tell
What does a breakthrough case mean? What should you know?
A breakthrough COVID case is defined as a case when a person who has been partially, or fully vaccinated contracts COVID-19, despite having developed some level of immunity.
While breakthrough cases do signal the presence of the SARS-COV-2 virus (or its mutations) in the body, contracting COVID-19 post vaccination could be in many ways, different from a normal COVID infection (for those who have been unvaccinated). From the severity of symptoms, time taken for recovery (TTR), symptoms, and a lower risk of infection spread, transmission, breakthrough cases associated with coronavirus are still said to be rare, and may not happen to everyone.
One of the biggest reasons for the rise in breakthrough cases is the surge caused by the Delta and Delta Plus variants. While coronavirus vaccines have been proven to be highly efficacious and protective against the original SARS-COV-2 variant, the Delta variant of the virus has been seen to increasingly lower down their efficacy and weaken immunity, and thus, increase the likelihood for infection.
When does the risk of breakthrough infections lower down?
Even as medical experts debate on the need and priority usage of booster shots, it has been seen that the risk of catching a breakthrough infection, even with the virulent strain could be at its lowest in the 2-3 month window post full-vaccination, i.e., when a person receives two entire doses. While immunity peaks up 14 days after a vaccine dose, it is at its highest and lasts well for upto 90 days post-injection.
However, it should be remembered that certain factors like pre-existing comorbidities (such as severe respiratory infections, compromised lung health, chronic diseases), frail immunity and age could increase the risks of reinfection and breakthrough cases, over and above the present findings.
Could a vaccine's efficacy make a difference? Should you be worried?
The efficacy and efficiency of a given vaccine hold clues to the vaccine's performance and protection it could provide in clinical and real-life settings.
While different vaccines have different efficacy rates (mRNA vaccines have the highest currently), the percentile protection cannot be the sole guarantee of contracting COVID-19 again or the immunity you have. The Delta variant is the most common cause of breakthrough infections and even with any vaccine, it can be common to get an infection.
Apart from the efficacy rate, beneficiaries should look to compare the extent to which a given vaccine would offer protection from serious risks. A lower than usual risk of hospitalization, risk of dying from COVID-19 or even catching a symptomatic infection should be some parameters to check instead.
Such cases while concerning, aren't exactly a cause of worry since they tend to go up when vaccination rates go up. Hence, it can happen that we do continue to see more of these cases come up, as and when more people get immunized amidst the Delta-fueled wave.
What else should be remembered
No vaccine is 100% effective against eliminating COVID-19. It might take several tries and extensive research to get there. Even so, while vaccines do garner protection against severe odds with the infection, a lot of the ways to minimize risks lie in our own hands- diligent masking, distancing and frequent disinfection are the ways to get there.
Even with the vaccines, it remains crucial to follow some of these steps till the time we do not reach the stage of herd immunity. Hence, they should be followed in a proper manner to further lower down risks, especially if you are prone to vulnerabilities.