The purpose of the vaccines currently being used as a defense against Covid-19 is to improve outcomes for vaccinated people who encounter the SARS Cov-2 virus. Possible outcomes are:

• Complete avoidance of infection after exposure
• Asymptomatic infection
• Infection with light symptoms
• Infection with concerning symptoms
• Infection requiring mechanical ventilation
• Infection causing death

If a vaccine can largely protect against the last two listed outcomes, it is doing an effective job. People who expect vaccination to completely protect them from infection are misinformed. If they engage in risky behavior, such as going maskless in a crowd at an entertainment venue, they could become a prime candidate for a breakthrough infection. A breakthrough infection is an infection of a person who has been fully vaccinated against the infecting pathogen. These things happen because none of the Covid-19 vaccines are 100% effective. At best, they reduce the chance of becoming infected and drastically reduce the chance of serious infection requiring mechanical ventilation or resulting in death.

A recent study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), titled “Association Between mRNA Vaccination and COVID-19 Hospitalization and Disease Severity” describes data taken at 21 medical centers between March and August 2021. The mRNA vaccines are those produced by either Pfizer or Moderna. Outcomes to Covid-19 infected patients who had been vaccinated were compared to outcomes for a control group of unvaccinated patients who had also been hospitalized for Covid-19.

Examined were:

• The association between prior vaccination and protection against Covid-19 infection and hospitalization
• Protection against progression of disease severity after a breakthrough infection

The idea is that vaccination prior to an infection will help the body mount a defense against the virus, and in the process prevent possible life-threatening organ failure and death.

A total of 4,513 patients hospitalized in 21 US hospitals in 18 states between March 11, 2021 and August 15, 2021 were included in the study. Case patients were hospitalized with Covid-19 and control patients were hospitalized for other reasons.

Results:

• Unvaccinated patients accounted for 93.9% of cases with disease progression to death or invasive mechanical ventilation.
• 88.0% of vaccine breakthrough cases were discharged alive within 28 days of hospitalization
• 77.2% of unvaccinated cases were discharged alive within 28 days of hospitalization.

Conclusion:

The risk of progression to mechanical ventilation or death is significantly lower for a vaccinated person who suffers a breakthrough infection than is the risk of progression for an infected unvaccinated person.

Takeaway:

Be fully vaccinated, including a (third) booster shot to protect against waning immunity as time passes.

BIO:

Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org