Ujjain: Healthcare workers still remain highly exposed to Covid-l9 due to their working condition, which is why they have been made the priority group to get vaccinated first across the world.
The city recorded such an incident after a malaria health worker Ramu Rao Ulare (59), a resident of Hatkeshwar Colony collapsed even after taking two doses of the jab. He was administered first vaccine in February and second on March 8. He tested corona-positive on March 21 and died while undergoing treatment on March 25.
Dr Naresh Purohit, advisor of National Communicable Disease Control Programme said that there are several reasons why people are testing positive after receiving the vaccine.
For instance, not wearing a mask and ignoring other safety protocols is a reason that has been linked to cases where individuals have got infected after getting vaccinated. Dr Purohit said the vaccine offers protection against the disease triggered by Covid-19, but not against the infection itself.
“The vaccine’s efficacy is only in preventing death or serious illness. This protection is offered only 2-3 weeks after the second dose. The vaccines does not protects against infection. Post-vaccination, people can get infected and transmit it to others. Therefore, people will have to continue wearing masks as they are at the risk of infecting others,” said Dr Purohit, epidemiologist
“No vaccine is perfect, so not everyone vaccinated will be protected from disease. Testing positive could mean infection which is asymptomatic or illness. Vaccines are not expected to protect against asymptomatic infection (although they may) but they do protect against disease. A 95 per cent efficacy still means that a small proportion of cases will occur among vaccinated people,” said Dr Purohit, who is also the WHO-Covid-19 technical lead.
He said that these are not re-infections, but they are instances where there has been a “breach in the barrier of immunity” induced by the vaccine.
Dr Purohit pointed that one needs to look closely at the cases of breakthrough after vaccination to know if they are mild in nature or serious infections of covid-19. If the disease travels from being a serious infection to a mild one that is what is expected of the vaccine.
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