Can I still get a COVID after vaccination? – NBC Chicago

Yes, you can still get the coronavirus after you have been completely vaccinated, but how often does it occur and who is at greatest risk of infection?

Top Chicago doctors said Tuesday that post-vaccination rates were low, with 0.06% of fully vaccinated people infected with the virus.

“The vaccine series has more than 700,000 Chicago citizens completed, two weeks after the second vaccination, or from the first vaccination if J & J,” said Dr. Alison Alwadi, Director of Public Health, Chicago. Two weeks later. ” “And at this point, we’ve identified less than 500 groundbreaking cases, which is 0.06% of those who complete the series.”

She said most of the cases were asymptomatic, but the city hospitalized 48 people with COVID-19 after vaccination, killing a total of 5 people.

“We’re still investigating some of these causes, but I can tell you that people were almost old, not surprising,” Arwady said.

The· Illinois Public Health Service Since January 1, 32 deaths from fully vaccinated individuals with COVID-19 or related complications have been reported so far, but details of these cases are not available. As of April 28, another 97 “breakthrough” vaccine cases (those who tested positive for coronavirus at least 2 weeks after the final vaccine dose) were hospitalized.

The vaccine itself cannot give the virus, but while it is much less likely that the vaccinated person will be hospitalized or die, it is not 100% effective in completely preventing the virus.

According to the CDC, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines account for 94% of COVID-19 admissions in fully vaccinated adults, according to data from a multilateral network of US hospitals from January to March. It was effective and was 64% effective in partially vaccinated adults. 65 years of age or older.

According to Chicago data, the median age of complete vaccinated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was 72 years, with cases ranging from 24 to 97 years. All five deaths were also reported in people over the age of 50.

“Every time someone is diagnosed with COVID, we say behind the scenes,’Are they really fully vaccinated?’ And if fully vaccinated, meet the groundbreaking case definition. I’m saying it will be. Would you like to take that lab sample and see if it is related to the variant? “Alwadi said.

However, according to Arwady, the data so far do not point to the variants responsible for most of the breakthroughs in Chicago.

Still, health experts have expressed concern about new variants of the virus. Studies have shown that current vaccines provide protection against known mutants so far, but they may not be very effective against new strains.

However, new versions of boosters and vaccines that target variants have already been investigated.

Pfizer-BioNTech is testing a third booster shot of the vaccine against fully vaccinated people.

“The flexibility of our unique mRNA vaccine platform allows us to technically develop booster vaccines within weeks if needed,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech. I will. release..

Moderna is also testing the potential for a third dose of the current vaccine and booster shots specifically for South African variants.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky Interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box In March, the company was in a good position to adapt the vaccine to its variants and is working on software that “helps address some of these new variants.”

Recent death Leukemia father in the suburbs of ChicagoInfected with COVID despite being fully vaccinated, raised some questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine in immunosuppressed individuals.

Current CDC guidelines state that people with a weakened immune system need to be vaccinated, but “it should be noted that the immune response to the vaccine may be reduced.”

“I think the task of knowing how effective it is for people with immunodeficiency is still going on, but I think it’s important to get vaccinated because we have some protection from vaccination. “Dr. Candice Robinson, CDPH’s medical director, said at a Facebook live on Tuesday.

Arwady acknowledged cases where immunocompromised people showed low antibody levels after vaccination, but said the vaccine could provide some protection that would benefit them.

“People with immunodeficiency are not having problems getting vaccinated. Usually, as Dr. Robinson said, they need to be 100% vaccinated, but people with immunodeficiency, especially more. There may be severe immunodeficiency … you may not get that high level of protection, “Arwady said. “So it was definitely seen, and for people who are severely immunosuppressed, it’s a discussion you should have with your doctor.”

Leukemia Lymphoma Association, Quoted from recent UK studies“Some patients with blood cancer may not get optimal protection from the vaccine and may be more susceptible to COVID-19 infection after vaccination than the general public.” I am reporting.

In that study at King’s College London, data showed that after three weeks of a single dose of Pfizer vaccine, antibodies in 39% of patients with solid cancer and only 13% of patients with hematological cancer compared to 95% of healthy individuals. Indicates that a response was seen. , Society reported.

The group encouraged patients with blood cancers to continue wearing masks and take precautions such as social distance and hand washing.

Similarly Recent studies from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center “People with cancer that affects the blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes, especially those with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, are at increased risk of COVID-19 vaccine failure.”

This study tested blood from 67 patients with “hematological tumors” who were vaccinated with either Physer or Moderna COVID-192 dose vaccines three weeks ago. In the test, more than 46% of participants did not produce antibodies to COVID-19 and 70% of 13 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia could be measured without any form of cancer treatment. Only three people produced such antibodies.

“With increasing national guidance to enable unmasked gatherings among vaccinated people, clinicians may not be fully protected from SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for COVID-19 vaccines. We need to advise immunocompromised patients about this, “said Dr. Ghady Haidar, senior author of the study. , A doctor of transplant infections and an assistant professor of the university’s Faculty of Infectious Diseases, said in a statement. “Our results show that the probability of a vaccine causing an antibody response in people with hematological malignancies is comparable to a coin toss.”

However, according to Haider, a negative antibody test does not necessarily mean that the patient is not protected from the virus.

Many medications and treatments for certain cancers or other conditions can cause immunosuppression or weaken the immune system.

University of Chicago I wrote in a blog post In February, it was found that there was little or no data on the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine in immunocompromised people because the coronavirus vaccine was not included in the initial trial of the vaccine.

“Researchers have asked whether these immunosuppressive drug treatments reduce the effectiveness of Pfizer and Modelna vaccines (as in the case of influenza vaccines), or whether suspending or delaying treatment increases the effectiveness of the vaccines. But it’s important that the patient doesn’t change the vaccine. Schedule treatment without first consulting a doctor. “

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society due to very little data provided I’m asking people with blood cancer to register Become a “citizen scientist” and share their experience with COVID-19 on currently available vaccines.

The CDC said people with a weakened immune system should continue to follow public health guidelines after vaccination.

Arwady said other people who are vaccinated will also help protect those with a weakened immune system.

“To take this one step further, I think they will be vaccinated if someone you know has a serious immunodeficiency, but if you still have a lot of COVIDs around, they Is it to make sure that everyone in close contact with them is fully vaccinated, which could be the setting they really want, right? “She said. “But it will be very important and you will probably pay a little more attention to masks etc.”

And it can spread beyond immunosuppressed individuals.

Arwady previously stated that the risk of getting COVID after vaccination decreases as more people are vaccinated.

“As our number of cases declines, we really get over COVID, so we are even less likely to be exposed to COVID, which we don’t have to worry about,” she said last month.

Nevertheless, examples of groundbreaking cases have been reported.

Ariel Silver of Northbrook, a sales manager for a medical device company, said she received a second dose of Pfizer vaccine in mid-January. It was COVID-19 positive in early March.

“I was shocked because I was completely vaccinated for six weeks and then tested positive for COVID,” Silver said.

Silver said her two young daughters tested positive in late February, and shortly after she began to feel sick.

“It was a big blow to me. I read that if a vaccinated person gets infected with COVID, it’s a normal, very mild symptom. But for two days, my symptom is quite mild. It wasn’t. I was in bed and was very ill. “