Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately?
Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately?
According to the CDC, Florida reported nearly 51,644 new COVID-19 cases Monday. The number of people who are COVID-19 fully vaccinated and contracting the virus is growing.
Experts say these so-called breakthrough infections are happening due to three mean factors, the vaccines are not meant to fully block infection, people who are not boosted have less protection against the virus, and the omicron variant is highly contagious.
"Did an at-home test. Within 15 minutes, I had my two purple lines and I was like, well, I will not be spending Christmas with my family this year," said Janet Laine.
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The Tampa teacher is fully vaccinated, but mid-December, COVID-19 combined with a mild concussion took her out for about nine days.
"I had no appetite. Everything just made me feel really sick," Laine said. "It was pretty miserable. I slept like 16 hours a day."
The omicron variant is incredibly infectious, meaning vaccinated or not, you have a higher chance of contracting the virus. Even people protected by a booster can still get sick.
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"Sort of hit me like a ton of bricks because I managed to get this far into the pandemic teaching and around people and just not getting COVID," said Madeleine Mejean about finding out she tested positive.
Breakthrough infections are expected. Medical experts say the vaccines are still doing their job, keeping most symptoms mild.
"They're preventing hospitalizations and they're preventing deaths. So those two endpoints are good," said USF College of Public Health Associate Professor, Dr. Jill Roberts.
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The CDC analyzed breakthrough cases in 17 states between September 19 through November 20, finding unvaccinated people are 10 times as likely to be infected with COVID-19, and 20-times more at risk of dying from the disease compared with folks who have a booster shot.
"I believe that having all those vaccines really helped me minimize the symptoms that I showed," Mejean said.
People like Mejean who are boosted have the most antibody protection from omicron. With just one or two doses of the shot, your immunity does not stick around against this variant.
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Experts say even though you may know someone unvaccinated who has a mild COVID case, or someone jabbed who is sick with a fever for days, we are not back to square one in this fight, we have treatments and we have the vaccines.
"So right now, to really prevent actually severe disease from omicron and any other variant that's out there, you need to have a booster shot," Roberts said.
Tuesday, the CDC updated its recommendation saying people getting the Pfizer booster only have to wait five months from their second dose.
Monday, the FDA expanded its authorization of Pfizer booster shots to include children aged 12 to 15, something the CDC has yet to sign off on.