Vaccinated college students can help answer important questions about COVID spreadsExBulletin

Scott Simon, Host:

As vaccines become more widespread, so does science. Researchers are currently recruiting college students from more than 20 campuses for research to answer important questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. Is it that these shots only protect the people who get them? Also, do you protect the people around you by stopping the spread of the virus? I’m here to talk about this new study by NPR scientific correspondent Richard Harris. Good morning, Richard.

Richard Harris, Signature Line: Of course. Good morning, Scott.

SIMON: Before you start your research, let’s take a step back to understand the basic concepts. If the vaccine prevents your illness, are you still at risk of spreading the illness after you have been vaccinated?

Harris: That’s right. Well, remember. Vaccines encourage your body to make antibodies that protect you from the virus. But, as you know, the disease is so new that we don’t know exactly how it develops. Contact with the virus can lead to small infections before the antibodies work. And in the meantime, you may produce enough virus to spread it to others.

The first round of vaccine research established that vaccines protect you, but they did not address the rest of the equation. Dr. Myron Cohen of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill says it’s designed for college student research.

MYRON COHEN: This is like a really important cleanup hit. It’s like OK. Now we are going back and trying to do what we couldn’t do the first round because this is a heavy lift.

Simon: Richard, how does this study answer these questions?

Harris: Researchers on more than 20 university campuses are recruiting students for this study. Half will be vaccinated with COVID vaccine immediately and the other half will be vaccinated after 4 months. Everyone wipes their noses daily and those samples are sent to the lab to look for signs of active virus. And anyone who is actually shedding the virus will be asked to volunteer a nasal swab with a nearby contact. And all this helps researchers understand how well vaccinated people can still get infected and shed the virus.

Simon: Richard, if people can still get infected and shed the virus, why are we all required to wear masks even after being vaccinated?

Harris: Well, you don’t know the answer to that question, right? But that’s what this study may provide the answer. Cohen helped oversee the design of this study, and this is how he put it down.

Cohen: At some point, we talked about this as a maskless study in several ways. If the vaccine works incredibly badly and so many people are vaccinated, it can ultimately reduce their dependence on masks. But we are on the road away from it.

Harris: Of course, this one study doesn’t give all the answers about masks and vaccines, but Cohen says it should be really important evidence.

SIMON: And what else can we learn from this study?

Harris: Well, really, when you think about it, we still have a fair amount to learn how this virus does its damage. I talked to Josh Schiffer, an infectious disease specialist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, about a new study.

JOSH SCHIFFER: This is portrayed as helping people make individual decisions. And that’s true, but the bigger impact is actually at public health levels.

Harris: He actually needs to vaccinate more people to control the epidemic by what is called herd immunity if people can spread the virus even if they are vaccinated. Is called. On the other hand, if vaccinated people rarely spread the virus, fewer people need to be vaccinated to end the epidemic.

SIMON: When will the results be available?

Harris: The organizers of the study hope to get an answer within about five months. Of course, there are many unknowns. For example, if the vaccine becomes widely available to college students while the study is in progress, some participants may be rescued. And that can hinder research.

SIMON: Thank you very much, Richard Harris, NPR’s scientific correspondent.

Harris: Always Scott.

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