Fully vaccinated people infected with the coronavirus by way of breakthrough cases are often less sick from COVID-19, according to new research.
Do COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe COVID?
Per CNN, two new studies suggested that the COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe COVID-19 and death, which we’ve known for a while.
- But the researchers found that breakthrough infections — where fully vaccinated people are infected with COVID-19 — lead to less sickness overall.
- “Although breakthrough infection increased risk of death, vaccination remained protective against death in persons who became infected during the Delta surge,” the researchers wrote in a new report, which was published in the medical journal Science.
How long does the COVID vaccine protect you?
The researchers said vaccine effectiveness can wane over time, no matter the type of vaccine that infects people, according to CNN,
- But “those fully vaccinated had a much lower risk of death after infection,” the researchers wrote.
- The experts said there’s “an urgent need to reinstate multiple layers of protection, such as masking and physical distancing — even among vaccinated persons — while also bolstering current efforts to increase vaccination.”
Can fully vaccinated people get long COVID?
Still, this doesn’t mean fully vaccinated people have free rein to ignore the coronavirus. A team of researchers at Oxford University recently found that fully vaccinated people infected with coronavirus can experience long-term symptoms, otherwise known as “long COVID-19.”
The researchers found fully vaccinated people have a lower risk of death and hospitalization. But there is still a risk for severe complications, including “lung failure, need for mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, life-threatening blood clots, seizures, and psychosis,” per Reuters.
- And the findings suggest “previous vaccination does not appear to protect against several previously documented outcomes of COVID-19 such as long COVID features, arrhythmia, joint pain, Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, sleep disorders, and mood and anxiety disorders,” the researchers said.