Medical experts opined that vaccination itself does not provide a protective shield. Breakthrough infection is a synonym that has been widely emerged in countries that has been leading in vaccination drives.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- The large number of breakthrough infections in Kerala gave rise to questions on virus mutations which managed to escape the immunity offered by vaccines
- However, the genetic studies conducted on the samples of breakthrough infections did not find such a possibility.
- Kerala has administered the first dose of Covid vaccine to more than half of its population.
Thiruvananthapuram: An overall analysis by medical experts reveal that the ‘high breakthrough infection’ reported in many parts and thereby reflecting a surge in the cases is a worldwide phenomenon and not a matter of grave concern as this also points towards the fact that vaccination by itself does not provide a 100 per cent protective shield to the virus.
“Israel has among the world’s highest levels of vaccination for Covid-19, with 78% of people above 12-years of age vaccinated, mainly with Pfizer vaccine. Yet the country is logging one of the world’s highest infection rates. This shows that the Pfizer vaccine is not very effective at stopping infections. Delta is the fittest virus as it can enter cells faster and replicate faster too”, said Dr Rajeev, Vice Chairman, research cell, Kerala IMA.
“Fortunately, most of these breakthrough infections are in the nose or throat only. Older fully vaccinated people may rarely get serious breakthrough infection”, Dr Rajeev added.
In a recent study from Qatar, Pfizer vaccine was only 53 percent effective against delta infection (asymptomatic or symptomatic) compared to 75 percent Beta (South Africa B.1.351) and 90 percent against Alpha (UK B.1.1.7) variants. Meanwhile, Pfizer was 90 percent effective against severe or lethal disease with Delta in the Qatar study of over 8 lakh people.
At the same time, experts are of the overall view that vaccines are capable of preventing severe disease.
The latest analysis by the medical experts holds significance where Kerala is contributing over half of the new Covid positive cases in the country, the state has also accounted for half of the breakthrough infections reported till date. According to the latest report from the Union health ministry, 46% of the 87,000 breakthrough cases reported are from Kerala, which tops the national average in vaccination. That means around 40,000 infections were reported from the state.
However, health experts reveal that it was quite possible to have over 40,000 breakthrough infections in a state with high vaccination coverage and low immunity against the infection.
“It is quite natural that a high number of breakthrough infections are reported. The vaccines continue to show efficacy between 70 to 75%. That means not all will get protected against the infection. But the vaccines invariably are still good at saving lives,” said Dr Padmanabha Shenoy, a rheumatologist, and public health analyst.
A large number of breakthrough infections in the state gave rise to questions on virus mutations that managed to escape the immunity offered by vaccines. However, the genetic studies conducted on the samples of breakthrough infections did not find such a possibility. Health experts have also tried to explain why the new positives and breakthrough infections remained high in Kerala when compared to other states.
“Breakthrough infections are a small percentage of the total infection. The breakthrough infection we see in Kerala is similar to those reported in countries with good healthcare systems in place. The new variants have helped the virus to spread even in fully vaccinated people”, said Dr Anish TS, member of the Covid management committee and an assistant professor at the department of Community medicine, Government medical college, Thiruvananthapuram.
Health Minister Veena George informed that the state has vaccinated over 50 per cent of the population with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. George said that a total of 1, 77, 88,931 people (50.25 per cent) received the first dose on Monday. As per 2021 projection, Kerala’s population is estimated to be 3.54 crores
