Fully Vaccinated With 'Breakthrough' Infections, Are as Infectious as Unvaccinated.
The findings are the result of a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford.
The researchers surveyed U.K. data of more than 380,000 COVID-19 cases in country.
The research suggests that while vaccinated individuals are significantly less likely to suffer severe COVID-19 infection, .
... they still pose a risk to individuals who are unvaccinated.
With Delta, infections occurring following two vaccinations had similar peak viral burden to those in unvaccinated individuals, University of Oxford Study, via CBS News.
The fact that they [fully vaccinated people] can have high levels of virus suggests that people who aren't yet vaccinated may not be as protected from the Delta variant as we hoped, Dr. Sarah Walker, Lead Researcher Oxford Study, via CBS News.
Researchers maintain the effectiveness of current vaccines in mitigating the contraction of COVID-19.
You are still less likely to get infected - but if you do, you will have similar levels of virus as someone who hasn't been vaccinated at all, Dr. Sarah Walker, Lead Researcher Oxford Study, via CBS News.
The findings are bad news for lawmakers who have touted the concept of herd immunity in regards to vaccines.
It comes back to this concept of herd immunity, and the hope that the unvaccinated could be protected if we could vaccinate enough people, Dr. Sarah Walker, Lead Researcher Oxford Study, via CBS News.
But I suspect the higher levels of the virus in vaccinated people are consistent with the fact that unvaccinated people are still going to be at high risk, Dr. Sarah Walker, Lead Researcher Oxford Study, via CBS News.
There are lots of reasons why the vaccines may be very good at reducing the consequences of having the virus, Dr. Sarah Walker, Lead Researcher Oxford Study, via CBS News.
Authors of the study reiterated that "it is really important to remember the vaccines are super-effective at preventing hospitalizations."
